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The original reprobates were hardened sinners who had fallen from God's grace. In time, their name was used outside of religious contexts for any person who behaves in a morally wrong way. In Late Latin, reprobare means "to disapprove" or "to condemn."
Synonyms
Noun
- baddie
- baddy
- beast
- brute
- caitiff
- devil
- evildoer
- fiend
- heavy
- hound
- knave
- meanie
- meany
- miscreant
- monster
- nazi
- no-good
- rapscallion
- rascal
- rogue
- savage
- scalawag
- scallywag
- scamp
- scapegrace
- scoundrel
- varlet
- villain
- wretch
Adjective
- corrupt
- debased
- debauched
- decadent
- degenerate
- degraded
- demoralized
- depraved
- dissipated
- dissolute
- jackleg
- libertine
- loose
- perverse
- perverted
- rakehell
- rakehelly
- rakish
- sick
- unclean
- unwholesome
- warped
Verb
Examples of reprobate in a Sentence
Joe Reid, Vulture, 26 June 2023
Many Republicans want to move beyond Trump, with his unfiltered bigotry and never-ending drama and posse of hucksters and reprobates.
—Jill Filipovic, CNN, 16 Feb. 2023
Bennie is, after all, a reprobate.
—John Anderson, WSJ, 11 May 2021
Buster was a notorious reprobate who was linked to an illicit liquor ring.
—James Lasdun, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2023
Charlie Price, a resolute drunken reprobate, has resolved to marry a woman with the aim of paying off his debts and staying in his family's good graces.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 17 Nov. 2022
Boyer and Mauzey have dug deeper into their problem-parent roles to find the humanity in their screwups and shortcomings, and the empathy in their fragile hopes, while Milligan is an irresistible reprobate with killer comic timing.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Nov. 2022
The key to this gaslighting reprobate is that the group has become distracted.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 10 July 2022
This era of the Rolling Stones is the look every band strived for less than a decade later, when every unwashed reprobate on the Sunset Strip embraced the unkempt hair look that turned into glam rock.
—Tim Moffatt, EW.com, 10 June 2022
Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2023
To many of them, killing someone with such a reprobate mind was justifiable by God’s laws.
—Time, 7 Nov. 2022
Batiste is not a reprobate minstrel like late-night regular Lil Nas X; yet the weakness of both is held in equivalent esteem by the cultural mainstream.
—Armond White, National Review, 6 Apr. 2022
That’s when Regina’s sardonic sister (Wanda Skyes, the show’s co-creator) steps in and lets him and his reprobate pals have it.
—Jeanne Jakle, San Antonio Express-News, 21 Apr. 2021
For reference, consider the late, reprobate Southwest Conference.
—Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 13 Jan. 2020
While Brussels often pulls its punches on enforcing the rules, the stigma of being a fiscal pariah can be enough to rattle financial markets and push reprobate countries into compliance.
—Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2019
Bryan Cranston gets wild as a free-spirited, reprobate bar owner.
—Chris Ball, cleveland.com, 4 Feb. 2018
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reprobate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Verb
Middle English, from Late Latin reprobatus, past participle of reprobare — more at reprove
Noun
1592, in the meaning defined above
Adjective
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
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Cite this Entry
“Reprobate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reprobate. Accessed 24 Sep. 2023.
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Kids Definition
reprobate
1 of 3 verb
reprobate
3 of 3 noun
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