Both Uses of
reputable
in
The Scarlet Letter
- The buccaneer on the wave might relinquish his calling and become at once if he chose, a man of probity and piety on land; nor, even in the full career of his reckless life, was he regarded as a personage with whom it was disreputable to traffic or casually associate.
Chpt 21 *disreputable = not considered respectablestandard prefix: The prefix "dis-" in disreputable means not or opposite. It reverses the meaning of reputable as seen in words like disagree, disconnect, and disappear.
- Thus the Puritan elders in their black cloaks, starched bands, and steeple-crowned hats, smiled not unbenignantly at the clamour and rude deportment of these jolly seafaring men; and it excited neither surprise nor animadversion when so reputable a citizen as old Roger Chillingworth, the physician, was seen to enter the market-place in close and familiar talk with the commander of the questionable vessel.
Chpt 21reputable = respected (with good reputation)
Definition:
-
(reputable) trusted and respected (having a good reputation)