reputed

adjective

re·​put·​ed ri-ˈpyü-təd 

1

: having a good repute : reputable

2

: being such according to reputation or general belief

a reputed mobster

Did you know?

Reputed is used constantly today by reporters, and almost always to describe suspected criminals—"the reputed mobster", "the reputed drug kingpin", "the reputed gang leader", etc. But the word shouldn't be left to journalists; your elderly aunt may, for instance, be reputed to have made a large fortune in oil, or to have had four husbands who all died mysteriously. Reputed is easy to confuse with reputable, and they used to mean the same thing—that is, "having a good reputation"—but it's become rare to hear reputed used with that meaning today.

Synonyms

• apparent
• assumed
• evident
• ostensible
• ostensive
• presumed
• prima facie
• putative
• seeming
• supposed

Examples of reputed in a Sentence

She was hired for her reputed talents as a manager.

this treatment is a reputed cure for colon cancer, but studies haven't confirmed that claim

Recent Examples on the Web

Even the reputed permabear who fears a debt crisis is coming believes the best option for the average investor is to simply buy and hold the S&P 500 for the long haul, adding to your position when the market falls. —Will Daniel, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024

Should Bordeaux wines from this vintage be regarded with less respect than those from other more reputed or ‘stellar’ years? —Tom Mullen, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024

Frances found the painting had somehow ended up in the hands of Joseph Covello Sr., a reputed lieutenant of the Gambino crime family. —María Luisa Paúl, Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2024

And, with a reputed budget of two billion dollars, Norman and his colleagues seem determined to soak up financial losses and sweep away the existing structure of golf, which is dominated by the P.G.A., a not-for-profit organization based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. —John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 20 July 2022

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

reputed

adjective

re·​put·​ed

ri-ˈpyüt-əd

1

: having a good reputation

a highly reputed lawyer

2

: believed by most people to be such

the movie was a reputed success