- reprove
- reprove, rebuke, reprimand, admonish, reproach, chide can all mean to criticize adversely, especially in order to warn of or to correct a fault.To reprove is to blame or censure, often kindly or without harshness and usually in the hope of correcting the fault{
his voice sounded so bright and cheerful . . . that she could not find it in her heart to reprove him— Rolvaag
}Rebuke implies sharp or stern reproof{he could not evade the persistent conviction that she was the Church speaking, rebuking him— Hervey
}Reprimand suggests reproof that is formal, and often public or official{a word . . . which the Duke of Wellington, or Admiral Stopford, would use in reprimanding an officer— Macaulay
}Admonish stresses the implication of warning or counsel{count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother—2 Thess 3:15
}{a highly sensitive dog, and cannot bear reproof. Perhaps this is because he is not admonished sufficiently at home— Littell
}Reproach and chide imply dissatisfaction or displeasure; reproach usually connotes criticism or faultfinding; chide implies mild reproof or a slight scolding{if he came home late, and she reproached him, he frowned and turned on her in an overbearing way— D. H. Lawrence
}{it is not fitting for men of dignity to threaten and reproach because women have had a falling out— Shirley Jackson
}{the gentle irony with which he chides the overzealousness of modern critics— Joseph Frank
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
