reprieve means the cancellation or postponement of a punishment. It carries an Arena rating of 1431, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, reprieve ranks #227 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,275 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,811 of 17,135 for Most Malleable Words, #4,115 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
reprieve is pronounced /ɹɪˈpɹiːv/.
Why “reprieve” is a great word
A temporary suspension or delay of a punishment, especially an execution, or a brief respite from something unpleasant. From Middle English *repryen* ("to remand, detain"), probably from Anglo-French *repris*, the past participle of *reprendre* ("to take back"), from Latin *reprehendere* ("to seize, hold back"); first recorded as a verb c. 1513 by Robert Fabyan, noun use attested c. 1592. Unlike a "pardon," which absolves, or a "respite," which merely relieves, a reprieve carries the specific, knife-edge weight of borrowed time. It is the condemned man seeing the sun rise on a morning he was not meant to see, the executioner's hands pausing at the hooded hour, the governor's signature blotting the date of death. It offers no innocence, only interval; the reprieved knows exactly what awaits when the temporary lifts.
Etymology
First use appears c. 1513 in the writings of Robert Fabyan. In the sense of “to take back to prison”, from Middle English repryen (“to remand, detain”) (1494), possibly from Middle French repris, in the form of reprendre (“take back”); a cognate to reprise. The sense has become generalized, but does retain connotations of punishment and execution. The noun's first use appears c. 1592.
noun
- The cancellation or postponement of a punishment.e.g.“The prisoner was saved from execution; the governor had requested a reprieve.”
- A document authorizing such an action.
- Relief from pain etc., especially temporary.e.g.“I have photographed destroyed homes, hospitals, funerals, humanitarian aid, empty markets and the daily lives of people returning to their neighborhoods during moment of reprieve.” — 2014 August 6, James Estrin, quoting Wissam Nassar, “Photos From Both Sides of the Gaza Conflict”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the or
- A cancellation or postponement of a proposed event undesired by many.
verb
- To cancel or postpone the punishment of someone, especially an execution.
- To bring relief to someone.e.g.“Company […] may reprieve a man from his melancholy, yet it cannot secure him from his conscience.” — 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
- To take back to prison (in lieu of execution).
- To abandon or postpone plans to close, withdraw or abolish (something).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.