opprobrium

9 synonyms for opprobrium, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — A thing, person, or circumstance that provokes disgrace or shame.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

blame

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

contempt disdain

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

obloquy infamy castigation censure derision scorn

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun

A thing, person, or circumstance that provokes disgrace or shame.

obloquy infamy

2. noun

Harsh criticism and contempt aimed at someone, or one example of this.

“Some Johnny with brains produces a hypothesis. Everybody calls him a rotter at first. But he remains calm in the face of opprobrium.”

contempt castigation censure derision scorn blame disdain

Etymology

PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin opprobrium, obprobrium (“a reproach, a taunt; disgrace, shame; dishonour; scandal”, noun), from opprobrō, obprobrō (“to reproach, upbraid; to taunt”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Opprobrō, obprobrō are derived from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + probrum (“disgra...

Full origin of opprobrium →

People also searched

blame contempt disdain scorn infamy censure obloquy derision castigation

Nearby words

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