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

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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

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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
  • First, there is a scandal or some form of controversy, followed by the response of the communications department and, finally, an argument.
    — Jon Michail, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • More than 2 1/2 years after being at the center of the biggest scandal in sports, Ippei Mizuhara’s voice is finally being heard.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 28 July 2026
Definition of scandal
Noun
  • Carnegie understood that the disgrace wasn’t just dying rich.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 22 July 2026
  • The character’s remorse and disgrace become a pivotal part of the movie’s third act, which ends almost entirely differently than Homer’s nearly 3,000-year-old tome.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 18 July 2026
Definition of disgrace
Noun
  • His aggression should put riders who rode for the lower GC places, rather than stage wins, to shame.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 27 July 2026
  • Because many women have dealt with demoralization and shame for years, cognitive behavioral therapy can also help.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 July 2026
Definition of shame
Noun
  • In the latter case, Democratic senators would likely oppose the contempt effort.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 29 July 2026
  • In federal district courts, by contrast, Article III judges have the power to hold all attorneys who appear before the court in criminal or civil contempt, if warranted.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 29 July 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
  • Hye-ri, the spoiled daughter whose bullying acted as a catalyst for this entire sequence of events, has been sent abroad following the public humiliation of her family.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 27 July 2026
  • Weber’s account does not play down the violence and humiliation of the process.
    — Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
Definition of humiliation

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Cite this Entry

“Opprobrium.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/opprobrium. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of opprobrium for Spanish Speakers

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