reprobate
noun

- A morally unprincipled person; a degenerate or scoundrel

- One who is rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation; a depraved, unprincipled person

Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The etymology of "reprobate" traces back through several layers of linguistic evolution:

Latin Origins: reprobare = "to disapprove, reject, condemn as worthless”, composed of: re- (back, against) + probare (to test, prove, approve). The literal meaning: "tested and found wanting" or "rejected after examination"

It entered Old French as reprobat and was adopted into Middle English around the 14th century.

The word was heavily influenced by Christian doctrine, particularly Calvinist theology. In religious texts, a "reprobate" referred to someone predestined by God for damnation—essentially, souls that God had "tested and rejected" for salvation. This gave the word its intense moral weight.

The modern usage can range from serious moral criticism to playful reproach.

The Latin root probare also gave us "prove," "probable," "probation," and "approve"—all related to testing, examining, or establishing worth. "Reprobate" is essentially the negative verdict of that testing process.

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SYNONYMS

bad apple, bad egg, bad hat, bad lot, bad seed, bastard, black sheep, blackguard, bounder, brute, cad, charlatan, cheat, churl, con artist, corrupt person, corrupt soul, criminal, crook, cur, debased person, debauched person, deceiver, degenerate, delinquent, depraved character, devil, devil incarnate, dissolute person, dregs of society, evildoer, fallen angel, felon, fiend, fraudster, good-for-nothing, guttersnipe, hardened sinner, heel, hell-raiser, hellion, hooligan, immoral person, immoralist, imp, knave, lawbreaker, libertine, lost cause, lost sheep, lost soul, lowlife, louse, lump, malefactor, miscreant, monster, moral outlaw, ne’er-do-well, no-good, nogoodnik, offender, outcast, pariah, profligate, rake, rapscallion, rascal, rat, REPROBATE, rogue, rotten apple, rotten egg, rotter, ruffian, savage, scamp, scapegrace, scalawag, scoundrel, scum, scum of the earth, shameless person, sinner, snake, snake in the grass, son of a gun, son of perdition, swindler, tramp, transgressor, trickster, unprincipled person, vagabond, varmint, vermin, villain, viper, waster, wastrel, wayward soul, wicked person, wretch, wrong 'un, wrongdoer

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SMUGGLE
 OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Of all the synonyms for REPROBATE I’m attracted to guttersnipe, rapscallion, and scalawag,.. how about you?” 

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