opprobrium

noun

ə-ˈprō-brē-əm How to pronounce opprobrium (audio)
Definition of opprobriumnext
1
as in scandal
a cause of shame saw no reason why "secretary" should suddenly become a term of opprobrium among the politically correct

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disgrace
the state of having lost the esteem of others the opprobrium that was long attached to the convicted embezzler's name

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of opprobrium 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 Govan and Zumthor, who until now has never built a building in the US, inspired years of pearl clutching in Los Angeles over the development—one art critic even earned a Pulitzer Prize for his opprobrium. — Mark Guiducci, Vanity Fair, 6 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for opprobrium
Recent Examples of Synonyms for opprobrium
  1. scandal
  2. disgrace
  3. shame
  4. contempt
  5. odium
  6. humiliation
Noun
  • Bolsonaro will likely lean into his messaging on affordability and link the president to corruption scandals.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Season 2 of the Ryan Murphy series will see the lawyers of Grant, Ronson & Greene back for another season of scandals, secrets, and stilettos.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of scandal
Noun
  • But Scott was mercifully lifted for Evan Phillips, who recorded the final out of the game to save the Dodgers from disgrace.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026
  • If deterrence is a factor in sentencing, Pattis argues that Diamantis’ disgrace is sufficient.
    — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of disgrace
Noun
  • There were flashes of politics and victim blaming, judgment and shame in a case that’s rife with unanswered questions and likely to evolve as more details come to light.
    — Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Its main goal is to name and shame businesses with ties to the settlements.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of shame
Noun
  • The contempt hearing Hoskins’ comments come in the wake of a chaotic redistricting battle that has dominated Missouri politics for the past year.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Femicide is defined as the killing of a woman in a domestic setting or out of contempt for women.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of contempt
Noun
  • Pashinyan had led the movement to oust Moscow’s influence in Armenia; he was now saddled with the odium of losing Karabakh on his watch.
    — Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
  • By heaping odium on Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, one of several prominent opposition figures, the government gave a divided opposition a leader to unite around.
    — Christopher de Bellaigue, The New York Review of Books, 13 Oct. 2022
Definition of odium
Noun
  • There is humiliation here, claustrophobia, physical vulnerability and an intimacy that occasionally brushes against the erotic.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Beyond the ugly-duckling implications and the patent objectification and humiliation of women, the show’s portrayal of plastic surgery itself struck me as dark and sort of sickening.
    — Jolene Edgar, Allure, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of humiliation

Browse Nearby Words

opprobrious
opprobrium
opprobriums
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Opprobrium.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/opprobrium. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of discreet

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All