Library / English Dictionary

REPROACH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mild rebuke or criticism

Example:

words of reproach

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("reproach" is a kind of...):

rebuke; reprehension; reprimand; reproof; reproval (an act or expression of criticism and censure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reproach"):

self-reproach; self-reproof (the act of blaming yourself)

blame; rap (a reproach for some lapse or misdeed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Disgrace or shame

Example:

he brought reproach upon his family

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("reproach" is a kind of...):

disgrace; ignominy; shame (a state of dishonor)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Express criticism towards

Example:

The president reproached the general for his irresponsible behavior

Synonyms:

reproach; upbraid

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "reproach" is one way to...):

accuse; criminate; impeach; incriminate (bring an accusation against; level a charge against)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

reproacher (someone who finds fault or imputes blame)

Credits

 Context examples: 

My father made no reproach in his letters and only took notice of my silence by inquiring into my occupations more particularly than before.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was evidently a term of reproach.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The woman, however, would listen to nothing that he had to say, but scolded and reproached him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But my uncle was paying no attention whatever to the voluble self-reproaches of the landlord.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yet he felt a sense of weight and reproach within his breast, as though he had sinned himself in giving ear to such words.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I don't mean to reproach you, my dear, but this is not comfortable.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He looked very sad, but did not reproach me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Leach stood their fears and reproaches for some time.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She looked at him curiously, and he felt a reproach in her gaze and manner.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a guilty one.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)