reprehensible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonreprehensibility noun
- nonreprehensible adjective
- nonreprehensibleness noun
- nonreprehensibly adverb
- reprehensibility noun
- reprehensibleness noun
- reprehensibly adverb
- unreprehensible adjective
- unreprehensibleness noun
- unreprehensibly adverb
Etymology
Origin of reprehensible
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin reprehēnsibilis, equivalent to Latin reprehēns ( us ) (past participle of reprehendere to reprehend ) + -ibilis -ible
Explanation
Reprehensible means deserving of blame or strong criticism. It is a strong word — your mother might forgive you for doing something bad, but something reprehensible? That's worse. If a politician steals funds that are meant to provide care for the elderly, that's reprehensible! Near synonyms of this adjective are "blameworthy" and "culpable." The word reprehensible is from Middle English, from Latin reprehensus, plus the suffix -ibilis, "deserving of, capable of." If someone is reprehended, they are blamed or strongly criticized.
Vocabulary lists containing reprehensible
Of Mice and Men
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Grade 10, List 4
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Thoreau believed slavery was morally reprehensible, and refused to pay a poll tax supporting the government that allowed it.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
‘Regardless of whether or not the move is legal, it is certainly disgraceful, despicable, reprehensible, loathsome, outrageous and just plain truly pathetic,’ writes an L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
Pretti's family issued a statement in response to the comment saying "the sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting".
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
And so policing conduct that they saw maybe 10 years ago, and would have found reprehensible then, could actually seem to be okay now with the bar so low.
From Salon • Jan. 26, 2026
Fairly or unfairly, to her derogators Pittman epitomized all that was reprehensible about Dick Bass’s popularization of the Seven Summits and the ensuing debasement of the world’s highest mountain.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
