opprobriumn.
/əˈprəʊbrɪəm/, U.S. /əˈproʊbriəm/ 1. An occasion, object, or cause of reproach, criticism, shame, or disgrace; shameful or disgraceful conduct. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > invective or abuse > [noun] > occasion of
blasphemy1610
opprobrium1656
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > disgrace or dishonour > [noun] > cause of disgrace
shendship1303
stone of stumbling (scandal, slander, etc.)a1382
lackc1480
dishonour1553
discredit1574
disgrace1590
shame1609
opprobrium1656
1656 in Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion (1704) II. xv. 491 That opprobrium of Mankind..who now calls himself our Protector.
1705 F. Fuller Medicina Gymnastica 156 This Distemper..is become the Opprobrium both of the Patient and Physician.
1773 Observ. State Poor 105 The roads of our nation are its standing opprobrium, the complaint and the jest of foreigners.
1827 H. Steuart Planter's Guide (1828) 240 The failure and decay of the Top (the great opprobrium of Transplanters) is primarily to be ascribed to the entire want of skill in..preservation.
1861 J. Tulloch Eng. Puritanism I. 45 The May-pole..on the village green became a standing opprobrium to his conscience.
1869 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 2nd Ser. 253 A maxim absolutely groundless..the opprobrium of philosophy.
1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear ii. iii. 217 These outrages..have reached a pitch which makes us the opprobrium of the civilized world.
2. Disgrace or bad reputation arising from a person's shameful or dishonourable conduct; infamy; shame; reproach. Occasionally a count noun: an imputation or expression of disapproval or contempt.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > disgrace or dishonour > [noun]
unworshipc888
bismerc893
shameOE
shondOE
shendnessc1000
shendinga1220
shendlaca1225
slander1297
brixlea1300
shendship1303
hounteec1330
dishonourc1380
reproofc1380
defamationa1387
dishonestyc1386
hountagec1390
defamea1393
disworshipa1400
mishonoura1400
villainya1400
shendc1400
rebukec1425
contemptc1430
reproach?a1439
reprobationa1450
disfamec1460
opprobry?a1475
lackc1480
shentc1480
vitupery1489
defamy1490
opprobre1490
dain?a1500
contemnment1502
ignominy?1527
scandalization1530
ignomy1534
contumely1555
disglory1567
dehonestationa1575
disgrace1592
attainder1597
disreputation1601
defaming1611
ignominiousness1655
adoxy1656
opprobrium1684
shonda1961
1684 J. Scott Serm. before Ld. Mayor 8 Persecuted with all the Reproach and Opprobrium that the most inveterate Rancour can invent.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Opprobrium, a Latin word become English, the Shame that sticks continually to a leud and vicious Act.
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xxix. 208 [He] will assert his natural right to the modesty of the quotation, and leave all the opprobrium to his Grace.
1795 H. M. Williams Lett. France II. 12 One of the secrets of Robespierre's government was to employ as the step-ladders of his ambition, men whose characters were marked with opprobrium.
1818 M. W. Shelley Frankenstein III. 186 When I die, I am well satisfied that abhorrence and opprobrium should load my memory.
1858 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1869) II. viii. 573 Spain..has been plundered and oppressed, and the opprobrium lights on the robbers, not on the robbed.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Aug. 7/2 They are no ladies. The only word good enough for them is the word of opprobrium—females.
1908 ‘G. A. Birmingham’ Spanish Gold 66 Everybody calls him a rotter at first. But he remains calm in the face of opprobrium.
1974 D. F. Cheshire Music Hall in Brit. i. 16/1 It was not long before singing rooms attracted the opprobrium previously attached to the singing booths at the fairs.
1988 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Nov. 1228/4 Such criticism takes Jonson's opprobria too seriously.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1656