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
  • Men in the administration, meanwhile, have weathered their scandals.
    — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2026
  • When scandals are revealed, teams and leagues with close ties to gambling companies are accused of hypocrisy.
    — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of scandal
Noun
  • These rosy reveries gradually darken as Wilde remembers succumbing to hedonism, deceit, debt, and disgrace.
    — Hannah Aizenman, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of disgrace
Noun
  • The French gêne par procuration delegates discomfort, while the German Fremdschämen means foreign shame.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • While the imposing box set itself is a portable 12-pound film school and an instant status symbol on your shelf, there’s no shame in clicking over for a preview.
    — Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of shame
Noun
  • According to the court docket, a contempt hearing was scheduled for November.
    — Stacy Perman, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Taylor was later found in willful contempt for violating their divorce terms and ordered to pay $70,000 to cover Shumpert’s legal fees.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 12 Oct. 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
  • But duration turns the screw—prolonged humiliation or a slow unfolding toward future self-recrimination.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • But whatever Schadenfreude Lamb might be feeling about his rival’s humiliation is checked by concern over how much her operation has compromised his agents, past and present.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 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 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

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

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

The Longest Long Words List

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
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All