reproach
Definitions
To express disapproval of or disappointment in someone, especially gently and because you feel let down.
责备，批评（某人），尤指因失望而温和地表达不满。
An expression of disapproval or blame; also a cause of disgrace or shame.
责备，批评；（用作不可数）耻辱，丢脸的事。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedre- (back, against) + proach (prope, near). From Late Latin repropiare, 'to bring back near.' To bring someone face to face with their fault is to blame them — nearness turns into confrontation. That image survives in 'beyond reproach': no fault can be brought near you.
Root prox still carries 3 more wordsWhy It Means This
Reproach is the soft, wounded cousin of 'blame.' Its Latin core re- + prope means 'to bring back near,' i.e. to bring a person face to face with what they did wrong. So a reproach is rarely a shout; it is the disappointed look of someone who expected better — a teacher, a parent, a friend. The noun also drifted to mean the shame itself ('a reproach to the profession'), and the phrase 'beyond reproach' freezes the literal image: so faultless that no blame can be brought near.
Common Collocations
- 1.beyond reproach无可指摘
- 2.a look of reproach责备的眼神
- 3.a term of reproach带有谴责意味的称呼
- 4.self-reproach自责
- 5.reproach someone for因……责备某人
- 6.above reproach无懈可击
Example Sentences
- 1.
She reproached him for forgetting her birthday.
- 2.
There was a note of reproach in her voice.
- 3.
His conduct was beyond reproach.
Easily Confused
reproach vs rebuke vs scold — all mean to tell someone off, but the force differs. reproach is gentle and disappointed (you let me down); rebuke is sharper and more formal/authoritative (a public rebuke from the judge); scold is the everyday word for nagging someone, often a child. Reproach wounds; rebuke commands; scold nags.