Disgrace, dishonor, disrepute, shame, infamy, ignominy, opprobrium, obloquy, odium mean the state, condition, character, or less often the cause of suffering disesteem and of enduring reproach or severe censure.
Disgrace may imply no more than a loss of the favor or esteem one has enjoyed. The term, however, often implies complete humiliation and, sometimes, ostracism.
Dishonor may often be employed in place of disgrace, but typically it suggests a previous condition of being honored or of having a high sense of honor; it therefore may imply the loss of the honor that one has enjoyed or the loss of one’s self-respect or self-esteem.
Disrepute stresses either the loss of one’s good name or the attribution of a bad name or reputation.
Shame implies particularly humiliating disgrace or disrepute such as is caused by an illicit union, illegitimate birth, inferior blood, relationship to a traitor or criminal, or commission of a crime.
Infamy usually implies notoriety as well as exceeding shame.
Ignominy, more than infamy—which in some ways it closely resembles—stresses the almost unendurable contemptibility or despicability of the disgrace or its cause.
Opprobrium adds to disgrace the implication of being severely reproached or condemned.
Obloquy (see also ABUSE n) adds to disgrace the implication of being abused or vilified.
Odium applies to the disgrace or the opprobrium that is attached to the fact or state of being an object of widespread or universal hatred or intense dislike.