opprobrium

/əˈpɹəʊ.bɹɪ.əm/

//əˈpɹəʊ.bɹɪ.əm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"opprobrium" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“opprobrium” is uncommon English (frequency #83,576 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#83,576
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cause, object, or situation of disgrace or shame.

Corpus desk

Index EN-opprobrium · opprobrium · English

opprobrium · rank #83,576 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #83,576
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH organza

Nearest frequency peer: organza (+2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “opprobrium”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “opprobrium” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for opprobrium
PropertyValue
Headwordopprobrium
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈpɹəʊ.bɹɪ.əm/
Letters10
Frequency rank#83,576
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “opprobrium” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). opprobrium lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

opprobrium is uncommon English at frequency #83,576 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /əˈpɹəʊ.bɹɪ.əm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for opprobrium in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin opprobrium, obprobrium (“a reproach, a taunt; disgrace, shame; dishonour; scandal”, noun), from opprobrō, obprobrō (“to reproach, upbraid; to taunt”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Opprobrō, obprobrō ar… The correct English form is opprobrium, spelled O-P-P-R-O-B-R-I-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A cause, object, or situation of disgrace or shame.
  2. 2
    Disgrace or bad reputation arising from exceedingly shameful behaviour; ignominy.
  3. 3
    Scornful contempt or reproach; (countable) an instance of this.
  4. 4
    Behaviour which is disgraceful or shameful.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how opprobrium appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. As there are certain malignant diseases which have been denominated the opprobria of medicine, so there are particular maladies of our social condition, which may be considered the opprobria of legislation. Amongst the most inveterate of these are the poor laws.
  2. It was not that he was in danger of legal punishment or of beggary: he was in danger only of seeing disclosed to the judgment of his neighbours and the mournful perception of his wife certain facts of his past life which would render him an object of scorn and an opprobrium of the religion with which he had diligently associated himself.

Etymology

PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin opprobrium, obprobrium (“a reproach, a taunt; disgrace, shame; dishonour; scandal”, noun), from opprobrō, obprobrō (“to reproach, upbraid; to taunt”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Opprobrō, obprobrō are derived from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + probrum (“disgrace, shame; abuse, insult”, noun) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward; toward”) + *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”), in the sense of something brought up to reproach a person). The plural form opprobria is borrowed from Latin opprobria. Cognates * French opprobre * Italian obbrobrio * Portuguese ouprobio (obsolete), opróbrio * Spanish oprobrio (obsolete), oprobio

This word in other languages

oprobio(Español)opprobre(Français)opróbrio(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "opprobrium"?
"opprobrium" is spelled O-P-P-R-O-B-R-I-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈpɹəʊ.bɹɪ.əm/.
What does "opprobrium" mean?
As a noun, "opprobrium" means: A cause, object, or situation of disgrace or shame.
How do you pronounce "opprobrium"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "opprobrium" is /əˈpɹəʊ.bɹɪ.əm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "opprobrium"?
PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin opprobrium, obprobrium (“a reproach, a taunt; disgrace, shame; dishonour; scandal”, noun), from opprobrō, obprobrō (“to reproach, upbraid; to taunt”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Opprobrō, o... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "opprobrium", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

O'Flaherty#83,569panopticon#83,596perspiring#83,616monoclinic#83,528

What to do next

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Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list