as in guilt
a feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing
he was filled with self-reproach for causing the accident
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Recent Examples of self-reproach
Laughing, by contrast, conveyed that the person understood the mistake was trivial and didn’t require dramatic self-reproach.
—
Angela Haupt, Time, 27 Feb. 2026
Recently, many have depicted motherhood as a harrowing ordeal of failure and self-reproach.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
The self-reproaches are reproaches against a loved object which have been shifted away from it on to the patient’s ego.
—Gary Greenberg, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
That guilt can deepen the cycle, turning what started as self-care into self-reproach.
—Christine Michel Carter, Parents, 20 May 2025
Orsolya is apparently wracked with feelings of complicity, though the film, which is made up mainly of extended shots of her conversations with other people, questions the sincerity of her self-reproach against a backdrop of ethnic tension and neoliberal sprawl in Romania.
—Beatrice Loayza, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
Amanda’s self-reproach expresses a depressed national mood.
—Armond White, National Review, 10 Apr. 2024
Jihan was overtaken by bitterness and self-reproach.
—Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
Photo: andrew caballero-reynolds/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Festivus has its airing of grievances and the 2024 Democratic National Convention in August may feature the wailing of self-reproach.
—James Freeman, WSJ, 26 Dec. 2023
Angela Haupt, Time, 27 Feb. 2026
Recently, many have depicted motherhood as a harrowing ordeal of failure and self-reproach.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
The self-reproaches are reproaches against a loved object which have been shifted away from it on to the patient’s ego.
—Gary Greenberg, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
That guilt can deepen the cycle, turning what started as self-care into self-reproach.
—Christine Michel Carter, Parents, 20 May 2025
Orsolya is apparently wracked with feelings of complicity, though the film, which is made up mainly of extended shots of her conversations with other people, questions the sincerity of her self-reproach against a backdrop of ethnic tension and neoliberal sprawl in Romania.
—Beatrice Loayza, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
Amanda’s self-reproach expresses a depressed national mood.
—Armond White, National Review, 10 Apr. 2024
Jihan was overtaken by bitterness and self-reproach.
—Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
Photo: andrew caballero-reynolds/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Festivus has its airing of grievances and the 2024 Democratic National Convention in August may feature the wailing of self-reproach.
—James Freeman, WSJ, 26 Dec. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-reproach
Noun
-
Family separations cause grief, confusion, attachment disruption and guilt for children, often leading to lifelong emotional and psychological suffering.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
-
In September 2011, Rapo was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison after previously pleading no contest — which cannot be used as evidence of guilt in a civil matter — to second-degree manslaughter.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Matthew Harris, of Oakland, allegedly confessed in full to the Wells Fargo bank robbery, expressing remorse and blaming his addiction to fentanyl, authorities said.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The entire statement, along with the subsequent media questioning, struck me as odd — not because I or anyone else is owed an apology, but because of the lack of clarity and, more importantly, what seems like a lack of genuine remorse.—
Jon Root OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
His only regret from this first term is agreeing to use $5 million of American Rescue Plan Act money to renovate the Memorial Opera House.—
Shelley Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
-
Kounalakis has no regrets about her decision.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
Noun
-
What a shame if our children’s children could not be inspired by the wonders of the night sky.—
Ernie Cowan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
-
For some past residents of the Godparent Home, the shame and fractured dreams remain.—
Sam Gillette,
PEOPLE,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-reproach.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-reproach. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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