All words

reprimand

Meaning

To rebuke or censure someone officially for a fault or wrongdoing.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

The manager had to reprimand the new employee for showing up late three days in a row. It wasn't a yelling match, but the serious tone and the talk about expectations made it clear he was in trouble for his mistakes.

The captain had to reprimand the navigator for losing their way during the nebula crossing. After hours of searching the dark void, it was clear the charted path was wrong, and his mistake nearly cost them their ship.

The lab manager had to reprimand the new technician after she accidentally introduced a rogue fungal strain into the prize-winning bioluminescent algae cultures. The technician felt a hot flush of shame; her carelessness had endangered months of delicate work and cost the project dearly.

The hamster chewed through the power cord, plunging the house into darkness. His owner, after a stern talk and a tiny, fluffy glove-slap on the nose, decided to reprimand the furry fiend. He issued a formal scolding, hoping the little rodent understood his official disapproval for the blackout.

Sir Reginald, a distinguished pug with a monocle, received a stern reprimand from the Duchess for tracking mud onto her prize-winning petunias. His tail, usually a blur of joy, drooped in shame as she pointed a bejeweled finger at his muddy paws.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

The coach's face was a thundercloud as he called the player aside. He didn't yell, but his voice was ice, letting him know this was a serious reprimand for his reckless play. It was clear the player's mistake had consequences.

The foreman had to reprimand the new recruit. He'd left the bioluminescent algae vats unattended, and now the cultivated samples were dimming, a costly setback for the asteroid mining operation. A stern look was all it took to convey the severity of the mistake.

The lead surveyor, face tight with frustration, had to reprimand Anya for repeatedly miscalibrating the geo-scanner. Her careless errors delayed the deep-core analysis and cost the team valuable time. This was the third time this week he'd had to address her sloppiness.

The cat, Bartholomew, received a stern reprimand for his latest escapade: meticulously rearranging the toilet paper into an avant-garde sculpture. His owner, trying to suppress giggles, explained this wasn't quite the artistic contribution the household had in mind.

My prize-winning pet rock, Dwayne, earned a formal reprimand from the neighborhood pebble association. Apparently, he was caught napping too loudly during their annual synchronized stone-skipping practice. The president, a rather stern chunk of granite, declared Dwayne's snores disrupted the meditative flow of tiny ripples.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

The captain, his face grim, looked down at the young sailor. "Your insubordination will not be tolerated," he announced, his voice hard. This official rebuke for forgetting his post meant a severe reprimand, a formal censure that would stay on the recruit's record for months.

The archivist, after discovering the misfiled ancient manuscript, braced herself for the inevitable reprimand from the head librarian. Her stomach churned, remembering the stern, formal dressing-down that followed any breach of cataloging protocol. This was a serious error, a direct censure for her carelessness.

The lead mechanic received a stern reprimand from the shipyard director for approving the untested hydro-stabilizer prototype. His signature on the maintenance log was official censure for the catastrophic failure that nearly sunk the research vessel during its inaugural dive, a significant breach of protocol.

Mayor Mildred, notorious for her fondness for glitter-bombs, received a stern reprimand from the city council. Apparently, her latest "festive initiative" had cemented the town hall in shimmering confetti for weeks. The council chairman, his brow furrowed under a cascade of stray sparkles, declared it an unacceptable misuse of municipal resources.

Professor Quibble issued a stern reprimand to Bartholomew, the sentient teacup poodle, for attempting to unionize the dust bunnies under the chaise lounge. Apparently, their demands for better lint distribution and access to dropped biscuit crumbs were considered a significant infraction of household decorum.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

The manager felt a knot in her stomach as she prepared to reprimand David. His flagrant disregard for safety protocols, a pattern of egregious dereliction, demanded formal censure. She had to make it clear this inexcusable behavior would not be tolerated any longer.

The archaeobotanist received a formal reprimand from the excavation director, not for misidentifying the seed fragments from the Pleistocene strata, but for her flagrant disregard of established carbon dating protocols, jeopardizing the entire project's credibility.

The artificer, his brow furrowed, had to reprimand the junior apprentice. Discarding irreplaceable ectoplasmic reagents constituted a grave dereliction of duty, a lapse in the meticulous protocols governing chroniton infusion. Such negligence could have precipitated a catastrophic temporal divergence, a consequence far too dire to countenance.

Upon discovering that Bartholomew had substituted the esteemed Earl Grey with lukewarm dishwater, the Baroness felt compelled to formally reprimand him. Her strident pronouncements echoed through the opulent salon, a melodious yet terrifying cadence designed to imbue Bartholomew with a profound understanding of his transgression, ensuring such libationary malfeasance would never again be countenanced.

The esteemed Professor Phileas Foggbottom, a veritable luminary in the field of competitive cheese sculpting, delivered a stern reprimand to Bartholomew "Barty" Buttercup, his protégé. Barty, it transpired, had indiscreetly employed artisanal gorgonzola in a pièce de résistance depicting the mating rituals of the Peruvian whistling frog, a grave artistic sacrilege that necessitated Foggbottom's official censure.

Difficulty

Normal — Everyday words worth reinforcing.

Appears in

Play word games with reprimand Take the 2 minute vocabulary size test