reprieve

[ri-preev]

verb (used with object)

reprieved, reprieving 

1. to delay the impending punishment or sentence of (a condemned person).

2. to relieve temporarily from any evil.

noun

1. a respite from impending punishment, as from execution of a sentence of death.

2. a warrant authorizing this.

3. any respite or temporary relief.

   Synonyms: deferment, stay, postponement, delay

reprieve

/ rɪˈpriːv /

verb

1. to postpone or remit the punishment of (a person, esp one condemned to death)

2. to give temporary relief to (a person or thing), esp from otherwise irrevocable harm

   the government has reprieved the company with a huge loan

noun

1. a postponement or remission of punishment, esp of a person condemned to death

2. a warrant granting a postponement

3. a temporary relief from pain or harm; respite

4. the act of reprieving or the state of being reprieved

Other Word Forms

• repriever noun
• unreprieved adjective
• reprievable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reprieve¹

First recorded in 1300–50; perhaps conflation of Middle English repreven “to contradict,” variant of reproven “to rebuke,” apparently taken in literal sense “to prove again, test again,” and Middle English repried (past participle of reprien “to bring back”), from Old French reprit (past participle of reprendre “to take back”; reprise, reprove,

Word History and Origins

Origin of reprieve¹

C16: from Old French repris (something) taken back, from reprendre to take back, from Latin reprehendere ; perhaps also influenced by obsolete English repreve to reprove

Synonym Study

See pardon.

Example Sentences

Creating is her “happy place,” she confesses, which sounds like a reprieve from the experience of writing her memoir.

From Los Angeles Times

Liberty Station, the decades-long transformation of San Diego’s massive Naval Training Center into a mixed-use neighborhood and cultural district, is a welcome reprieve from much of Southern California’s fragmented sprawl.

From Los Angeles Times

County also offers cooling centers — buildings with air conditions open to the public — as a reprieve from the warm temperatures, along with its public pools and splash pads.

From Los Angeles Times

In our dreary times, any good news, no matter how fluffy and inconsequential, is a welcome reprieve.

From Salon

Wales were given a temporary reprieve as the final pass from Caity Mattinson looked forward, but on replay it was deemed flat to rub salt into Welsh wounds.

From BBC

Related Words

• abatement 
• absolution 
• amnesty 
• clemency 
• deferment 
• pardon 
• postponement 
• remission 
• respite 
• suspension 
• truce