opprobrium
Meanings
noun
- A cause, object, or situation of disgrace or shame.
- Disgrace or bad reputation arising from exceedingly shameful behaviour; ignominy.
- Scornful contempt or reproach; (countable) an instance of this.
- Behaviour which is disgraceful or shameful.
Pronunciation
Word forms
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 (“disgrace, shame; abuse, insult”, noun) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward; toward”) + *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”), in the sense of something brought up to reproach a person). The plural form opprobria is borrowed from Latin opprobria. Cognates * French opprobre * Italian obbrobrio * Portuguese ouprobio (obsolete), opróbrio * Spanish oprobrio (obsolete), oprobio
Synonyms
Related words
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