SELF-REPROACH Synonyms: 37 Similar and Opposite Words

self-reproach

noun

ˌself-ri-ˈprōch

Definition of self-reproach

as in guilt

a feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing he was filled with self-reproach for causing the accident

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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 self-reproach On the one hand, self-reproach is a convenient stance for showrunner Ryan Condal to take. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 15 June 2026 Laughing, by contrast, conveyed that the person understood the mistake was trivial and didn’t require dramatic self-reproach. — Angela Haupt, Time, 27 Feb. 2026 Recently, many have depicted motherhood as a harrowing ordeal of failure and self-reproach. — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026 That guilt can deepen the cycle, turning what started as self-care into self-reproach. — Christine Michel Carter, Parents, 20 May 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-reproach

Noun

Consumed by guilt, Verity acted paralyzed as penance, and to remain close to Jeremy and their remaining child.

— Marlow Stern, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026
East of Eden is a tome obsessed with guilt, sin, ambition, race, the land as healing and capitalism as putrefying, the nature of fate and the question of free will, and the role money and inheritance play in either our corruption or our cleansing.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of guilt

Noun

Chisholm's quote came roughly 24 hours after catcher Austin Wells seemed to have no regrets about making the final out at third by attempting to stretch an eighth-inning double, the Yankees' first and only hit of Game 1, into a triple.

— Ryan Morik OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Fair Ones is set in the aftermath of their longtime friend Claire’s death, as Mara and Jen, two Brooklyn women in their forties, are off kilter, cycling through shock, numbness, denial, distraction, anger, isolation, regret, depression.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of regret

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

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“Self-reproach.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-reproach. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of self-reproach

noun

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