reproachfulnessn.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke vii. 73 b This mannes humanitee and curteous behaueour..ye turne into an occasion of slaundreous reprochefulnesse.

1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie cxxiv. 762 To the end that Justice should bee had in honour, and that we should not surmise any reprochefulnesse in it [etc.].

1644 F. Quarles Barnabas & Boanerges 165 The reproachfulnesse of that death which thy sonne suffered for my sake.

1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Tauntingness, a sharp, haughty, biting Reproachfulness.

1755 R. Fawcett Behaviour Apostles Paul & Barnabas Pref. p. x The more extravagant Demands of Luxury and Intemperance, may easily throw a Vail over the Reproachfulness and Deformity of a dishonest Action.

1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxvii. 221 And looked toward me with a sort of startled reproachfulness.

1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. v. 96 ‘You would leave me..,’ said Mrs. Tregonell, with mild reproachfulness.

1934 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 7 Nov. m1/6 ‘I think, Charles,’ Myra said, with dignified reproachfulness, ‘it is a little unkind to upset me so if I can't do anything to help the poor thing!’

1994 Independent (Nexis) 20 June 23 In culminating with his own violence and cowardice rather than with the brutality of the stepfather, the essay makes a more eloquent indictment of the grown-up world than any direct reproachfulness could have.