reprehensible

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌrɛprɪˈhɛnsəbl/ UK /ˌrɛprɪˈhɛnsəbl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
deserving censure or condemnation

His treatment of the staff was utterly reprehensible.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · deserving censure or... blameworthy culpable censurable deplorable disgraceful objectionable

Opposites

praiseworthy commendable laudable

Word family

Derived forms reprehensiblyreprehensibility

Related forms reprehend reprehension comprehend

Simplified etymology

Reprehensible, recorded in late Middle English, comes from the Latin word family of prehendere, meaning “to seize.”

Etymology

From Late Latin reprehensibilis, from Latin reprehendere ('to seize, blame, censure'), from re- ('back') + prehendere ('to grasp, seize').

reprehensibilis Latin reprehendere Latin prehendere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# reprehensible

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌrɛprɪˈhɛnsəbl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌrɛprɪˈhɛnsəbl/

## Meanings
1. deserving censure or condemnation

## Examples
- His treatment of the staff was utterly reprehensible.

## Synonyms
- blameworthy
- culpable
- censurable
- deplorable
- disgraceful
- objectionable

## Antonyms
- praiseworthy
- commendable
- laudable

## Derived Forms
- reprehensibly
- reprehensibility

## Related Forms
- reprehend
- reprehension
- comprehend

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: reprehensibilis
- Root: reprehendere
- Root: prehendere

## Etymology
From Late Latin reprehensibilis, from Latin reprehendere ('to seize, blame, censure'), from re- ('back') + prehendere ('to grasp, seize').

## AI Etymology
Reprehensible comes from Late Latin reprehensibilis, from Latin reprehendere ('to seize, blame, censure'), from re- ('back') + prehendere ('to grasp, seize'). The historical chain includes Latin reprehensibilis, Latin reprehendere, and Latin prehendere. The quoted older senses, "to seize, blame, censure", "back", and "to grasp, seize", supply the semantic anchors for reprehensible. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word reprehensible carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "deserving censure or condemnation". English derivatives include reprehensibly and reprehensibility; related English forms include reprehend, reprehension, and comprehend. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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