Literary notes about reprobate (AI summary)
The term “reprobate” is frequently deployed in literature to denote moral corruption or unredeemable behavior, often serving as a sharp denunciation of a character’s vices. In works marked by satirical wit and biting social commentary, it appears as a dismissive label for those whose actions or character fall far below accepted moral standards ([1], [2]). In religious and philosophical writings, the word carries a weightier connotation, indicating individuals forsaken by divine grace or condemned to a life of guilt ([3], [4]), while in dramatic literature it is used both humorously and critically to heighten the sense of moral decay ([5], [6]). Thus, across genres—from the picaresque to the sacred—“reprobate” encapsulates a potent mix of contempt and disapproval towards characters defined by their ethical failings ([7], [8]).
- Old Miss Crawley was certainly one of the reprobate.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - What a clever little reprobate she was, and how smartly she played at injured innocence!
— from Daisy Miller: A Study by Henry James - And as they liked not to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them up to a reprobate sense, to do those things which are not convenient.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - By reprobate desire thus madly led, The Roman lord marcheth to Lucrece' bed.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - What if we do omit This reprobate till he were well inclin'd, And satisfy the deputy with the visage Of Ragozine, more like to Claudio? DUKE.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - Thou reprobate and blasphemer, who calumniatest the works of the Spirit— Tu improbus et blasphemus qui opera Spiritus calumniaris! ’
— from Servetus and CalvinA Study of an Important Epoch in the Early History of the Reformation by Robert Willis - un-hallowed, un-sanctified, un-regenerate; hardened, perverted, reprobate.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget