to reproach
8
6.5
- verb
- /rɪˈproʊtʃ/
:
reprochar
- She reproached him for not completing the project on time.
I don't think anyone could reproach us in the slightest.
- I don't think anyone could reproach us in the slightest.
- And when you get into a real differentiation of value systems, I think that's where it becomes, you know, very difficult to reproach.
Examples
-
They reproach their leaders for the lack of action on climate change.
-
I fear and reproach myself, having shielded you for far too long.
-
I have nothing either to hope or fear, and nothing to reproach him with.
-
You do not reproach me.
-
For this reason, people sometimes reproach me for showing so little sympathy in the face of suffering.
Fiction book (1994) -
I promise you'll have no further need to reproach us.
-
No, don't reproach yourself for these medieval conditions.
-
Once, I reproached him with forgetting his work.
-
But even though she reproached herself now, when Gracie had first arrived in London at 21, life had seemed bright.
-
Diana looked at him in surprise, and then reproached herself for being such a snob.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
33
7.6
To scold someone strongly for doing something wrong
33
6.1
To tell someone they did something wrong, usually by a person in charge
28
7.7
To speak badly about someone or something to show little respect
26
7.7
To express strong disapproval of someone, often in an official statement
26
6.9
To tell someone firmly that you do not approve of their actions
23
8.2
To say angry, insulting things about someone or something
22
7.0
Tell someone you are unhappy with what they did
12
8.2
To criticize someone very strongly and angrily
5
7.3
Tell someone gently that what they did was wrong
3
8.8
To scold someone strongly for something they did wrong
1
9.4
Tell someone firmly that their actions are wrong
Antonyms
Compounds
How Disapproving
- Formal
3
8.8
22
6.8
55
2.2
8
6.5
701
3.3
22
7.0
Surface Forms
Etymology
Reproach comes from Latin parts re- ('back') and probare ('to test' or 'approve'), the same root as the English word prove. Think of reproach as 'pointing back' to a failure to pass the test, so to reproach someone is to tell them you are disappointed or to criticize them.