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Unfamiliar with opprobrium? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Just kidding—unfamiliarity with a word is hardly grounds for, well, opprobrium. We're here to learn! Besides, opprobrium is quite formal and has few close relations in English. It comes from the Latin verb opprobrāre, which means "to reproach." That verb, in turn, comes from the noun probrum, meaning "a disgraceful act" or "reproach." The adjective form of opprobrium is opprobrious, which in English means "deserving of scorn" or "expressing contempt." One might commit an "opprobrious crime" or be berated with "opprobrious language," for example.
Examples of opprobrium in a Sentence
They're going ahead with the plan despite public opprobrium. saw no reason why “secretary” should suddenly become a term of opprobrium among the politically correct
Recent Examples on the Web
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian also drew opprobrium last month after apologizing to Arab neighbors and declaring there would be no more attacks against them. —
Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2026 But there was no mass walkout, no opprobrium. —James McNicholas, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026 Meanwhile, many members of Congress skipped town, amid growing public opprobrium that, perhaps, crystallized most visibly in the gossip rag TMZ, which has gone full Woodward and Bernstein, running photos of lawmakers in the line of anything but duty. —Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026 The policies pursued by the Islamic Republic in the 1990s—the death fatwa against Salman Rushdie and attempts to kill his associates, the terror bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina—gained it nothing but opprobrium. —Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for opprobrium
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2026 But there was no mass walkout, no opprobrium. —James McNicholas, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026 Meanwhile, many members of Congress skipped town, amid growing public opprobrium that, perhaps, crystallized most visibly in the gossip rag TMZ, which has gone full Woodward and Bernstein, running photos of lawmakers in the line of anything but duty. —Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026 The policies pursued by the Islamic Republic in the 1990s—the death fatwa against Salman Rushdie and attempts to kill his associates, the terror bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina—gained it nothing but opprobrium. —Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for opprobrium
Cite this Entry
“Opprobrium.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/opprobrium. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
opprobrium
noun
op·pro·bri·um ə-ˈprō-brē-əm 
: very strong disapproval
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