Reprobationary

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Subject to or deserving of severe disapproval and condemnation for immoral or shameful behavior
2. Relating to or expressing strong moral disapproval and rejection of someone deemed unworthy of salvation or redemption
3. Characterized by official disapproval and censure directed toward those whose conduct is deemed fundamentally corrupt or irredeemable

Etymology: "Reprobationary" is a plain formation: the noun "reprobation," meaning severe disapproval or condemnation, with the suffix "-ary" attached, which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "relating to" or "characterised by" that noun. So the word describes something belonging to, or expressing, reprobation. The base noun has a sharper history than the suffix. "Reprobation" comes from Latin "reprobatio," from "reprobare," meaning "to disapprove" or "to reject," built from "re-" (back, again) and "probare" (to test, approve), so the core idea is of testing something and finding it wanting. Its theological sense of God rejecting the damned came later, and this is the strand that gives the adjective its moral weight. Because "-ary" is a productive English suffix, the adjective follows naturally from its noun. Its meaning is therefore the sense of "reprobation" applied to behavior, so a reprobationary attitude is one of firm condemnation.

Synonyms: disapproving, condemnatory, critical, censuring, scolding

Antonyms: approving, praising, endorsing, supportive, complimentary