reprobate definition | Dictionary.com

rep⋅ro⋅bate

[rep-ruh-beyt]

noun, adjective, verb, -bat⋅ed, -bat⋅ing.

–noun

1.	a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person: a drunken reprobate.

2.	a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.

–adjective

3.	morally depraved; unprincipled; bad.

4.	rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to disapprove, condemn, or censure.

6.	(of God) to reject (a person), as for sin; exclude from the number of the elect or from salvation.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME reprobaten < L reprobātus; ptp. of reprobāre to reprove

Related forms:

rep⋅ro⋅ba⋅cy [rep-ruh-buh-see]

, rep⋅ro⋅bate⋅ness, noun

rep⋅ro⋅bat⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. tramp, scoundrel, wastrel, miscreant, wretch, rascal, cad, rogue. 2. outcast, pariah. 3. wicked, sinful, evil, corrupt. 5. reprehend, blame, rebuke, reprove.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To reprobate

rep·ro·bate (rěp'rə-bāt')

A morally unprincipled person.
One who is predestined to damnation.

adj.

Morally unprincipled; shameless.
Rejected by God and without hope of salvation.

tr.v. rep·ro·bat·ed, rep·ro·bat·ing, rep·ro·bates

To disapprove of; condemn.
To abandon to eternal damnation. Used of God.

[From Middle English, condemned, from Late Latin reprobātus, past participle of reprobāre, to reprove : Latin re-, opposite; see re- + Latin probāre, to approve; see prove.]
rep'ro·ba'tion n., rep'ro·ba'tive adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Reprobate

Rep"ro*bate\ (-b?t), a. [L. reprobatus, p. p. of reprobare to disapprove, condemn. See Reprieve, Reprove.]

1. Not enduring proof or trial; not of standard purity or fineness; disallowed; rejected. [Obs.]

Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. --Jer. vi. 30.

2. Abandoned to punishment; hence, morally abandoned and lost; given up to vice; depraved.

And strength, and art, are easily outdone By spirits reprobate. --Milton.

3. Of or pertaining to one who is given up to wickedness; as, reprobate conduct. "Reprobate desire." --Shak.

Syn: Abandoned; vitiated; depraved; corrupt; wicked; profligate; base; vile. See Abandoned.

Reprobate

Rep"ro*bate\, n. One morally abandoned and lost.

I acknowledge myself for a reprobate, a villain, a traitor to the king. --Sir W. Raleigh.

Reprobate

Rep"ro*bate\ (-b?t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reprobated (-b?`t?d); p. pr. & vb. n. Reprobating.]

1. To disapprove with detestation or marks of extreme dislike; to condemn as unworthy; to disallow; to reject.

Such an answer as this is reprobated and disallowed of in law; I do not believe it, unless the deed appears. --Ayliffe.

Every scheme, every person, recommended by one of them, was reprobated by the other. --Macaulay.

2. To abandon to punishment without hope of pardon.

Syn: To condemn; reprehend; censure; disown; abandon; reject.

reprobate (adj.)

1545, "rejected as worthless," from L.L. reprobatus, pp. of reprobare "disapprove, reject, condemn," from L. re- "opposite of, reversal of previous condition" + probare "prove to be worthy" (see probate). The noun is recorded from 1545, "one rejected by God." Sense of "abandoned or unprincipled person" is from 1592. Earliest form of the word in Eng. was a verb, meaning "to disapprove" (1432).

Reprobate

that which is rejected on account of its own worthlessness (Jer. 6:30; Heb. 6:8; Gr. adokimos, "rejected"). This word is also used with reference to persons cast away or rejected because they have failed to make use of opportunities offered them (1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Cor. 13:5-7).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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