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Opprobrium
Definitions
- 1 A cause, object, or situation of disgrace or shame. archaic, countable
"As there are certain malignant diseases which have been denominated the opprobria of medicine, so there are particular maladies of our social condition, which may be considered the opprobria of legislation. Amongst the most inveterate of these are the poor laws."
- 2 a state of extreme dishonor wordnet
- 3 Disgrace or bad reputation arising from exceedingly shameful behaviour; ignominy. countable, uncountable
"Let me add that it is the great deſideratum, by which alone this form of government can be reſcued from the opprobrium under which it has ſo long labored, and be recommended to the eſteem and adoption of mankind."
- 4 state of disgrace resulting from public abuse wordnet
- 5 Scornful contempt or reproach; (countable) an instance of this. countable, uncountable
"[…]from that strict rectitude in which I have been accustomed to walk and to view my actions, and which, notwithstanding the unjust opprobrium cast upon me, I find to be an invincible support and shield."
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- 6 Behaviour which is disgraceful or shameful. archaic, countable, uncountable
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 ‘against’) + 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
See also for "opprobrium"
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