reprobate

Definitions

re- (back, against) + prob (test) + -ate = 'tested and turned back,' i.e. rejected. It started as a theology word — a soul God has reprobated, condemned rather than chosen for salvation — and drifted into everyday English for a hopeless scoundrel, someone life has tested and found wanting.

Why It Means This

Reprobate is the dark mirror of approve. Where ap-prob means 'tested and accepted as good,' re-prob means 'tested and rejected.' Calvinist theology used it as the opposite of the 'elect': the reprobate were souls condemned, not saved. That heavy moral charge survives in today's meaning — a reprobate isn't just bad, but cast off as hopeless.

Common Collocations

• 1.old reprobate老无赖
• 2.[moral reprobate]道德败坏者
• 3.utter reprobate十足的恶棍
• 4.[confirmed reprobate]积习难改的堕落之人

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The old reprobate spent his last penny at the bar.

• 2.

  He led a reprobate life, scorning every rule of decency.

• 3.

  The preacher reprobated the sins of the wealthy.