berate

verb

be·​rate bi-ˈrāt 

bē-

berated; berating; berates

transitive verb

: to scold or condemn vehemently and at length

being berated by her parents when she came home late

Did you know?

Berate and Rate

People have berated things—and each other—for time immemorial, but the word berate has only been known to English users since the mid-1500s. Before that, if you wanted to angrily rebuke, say, an outlaw for impersonating a fortune teller in order to steal the golden hubcaps off your royal carriage, you would rate them. Berate simply added the prefix be- to the existing verb rate, which is distinct from the rate that means “to value or esteem.” While the more familiar rate comes ultimately from Latin, the origins of the less common “scolding” rate are obscure.

Synonyms

• baste
• bawl out
• call down
• castigate
• chastise
• chew out
• dress down
• flay
• hammer
• jaw
• keelhaul
• lambaste
• lambast
• lecture
• rag
• rail (at or against)
• rant (at)
• rate
• ream (out)
• rebuke
• reprimand
• reproach
• scold
• score
• tongue-lash
• upbraid

Choose the Right Synonym for berate

scold, upbraid, berate, rail, revile, vituperate mean to reproach angrily and abusively.

scold implies rebuking in irritation or ill temper justly or unjustly.

angrily scolding the children

upbraid implies censuring on definite and usually justifiable grounds.

upbraided her assistants for poor research

berate suggests prolonged and often abusive scolding.

berated continually by an overbearing boss

rail (at or against) stresses an unrestrained berating.

railed loudly at their insolence

revile implies a scurrilous, abusive attack prompted by anger or hatred.

an alleged killer reviled in the press

vituperate suggests a violent reviling.

was vituperated for betraying his friends

Examples of berate in a Sentence

there's no need to berate someone for making a mistake during the first day on the job

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead of seeking to encourage people to have more children or berating those who delay parenthood or decide not to have children, policymakers should focus on helping more people to realize their own fertility goals. —Vegard Skirbekk, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2024

The lawsuit also describes Tabak allegedly berating D’Souza at a large 17 August 2023 meeting of NIH institute and center directors. —Bymeredith Wadman, science.org, 4 Nov. 2024

Gerda’s clearest memory of that night: Do berating another Voice of OC reporter to the point that Do’s supporters had to hold him back. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024

And being asked for advice certainly doesn’t entitle anyone to insult, berate or belittle. —R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

berate

verb

be·​rate bi-ˈrāt 

: to scold forcefully