English Reference
Noun

reputation

n. C / U
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US /ˌɹɛpjəˈteɪʃən/ UK /ɹˌɛpjuːtˈeɪʃən/ rep·u·ta·tion UK spelling reputation's, reputation's

n.the opinion that people have about someone or something. It is based on what has happened in the past and tells you if a person is trusted or liked.

n.the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. Often functions as a collective judgment of character or quality based on past behavior.


SIMPLE

The restaurant has a great reputation for fresh seafood.

CONTEXTUAL

After years of honest work, the lawyer built a reputation for being fair to everyone in the community.

COMPLEX

A company's reputation can take decades to establish through consistent quality, yet it can be destroyed in a single afternoon by a poorly handled public relations crisis.

Usage

Often used with the prepositions 'for' (to state the reason) or 'as' (to state the role).

Pitfall
He has a good reputation of a hard worker.He has a good reputation as a hard worker.

When describing a person's role or identity, use 'as' instead of 'of'.

The subsequent falling out between the pair resulted in a highly publicized murder trial that would destroy what was left of Evans’s reputation (at least until his unlikely third-act reinvention 20 years later).

The Guardian· 14 Aug 2026

A pro-shot probably would have more easily preserved the material’s reputation as an all-timer with the general public.

The Guardian· 13 Aug 2026

Common in sport and culture writing


14c. "credit, good reputation", from Middle English reputacion, reputacioun, reputation, reputatioun, from Anglo-Norman reputacion, reputacioun, Middle French reputation (French réputation), and their etymon Latin reputātiōnem (“consideration, thinking over”), noun of action from past participle stem of reputō (“reflect upon, reckon, count over”), from the prefix re- (“again”) + putō (“reckon, consider”). By surface analysis, repute + -ation. Displaced native Old English hlīsa (“reputation, fame”)

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin reputātiō
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Common
Updated