berate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of berate
Explanation
A strong verb for harshly cutting someone down with words is berate. "He didn't just correct the cashier who gave him the wrong change — he started to berate her, calling her names in front of the whole store." When you berate someone, you do more than just raise your voice at them; berate implies putting someone down by insulting their character. This word comes from a 16th-century English and French root meaning "to scold or blame." Often the anger behind the scolding seems over-the-top, as in "When the young man behind the counter dropped the scoop of vanilla, the manager berated him excessively by declaring him worthless and weak."
Vocabulary lists containing berate
Instead of "Said": Vexed Verbiage to Express Anger
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Refugee
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was a reach—“I’m never mad,” Manley said—so he asked Chalamet to berate him off-camera to get worked up for a red-faced confrontation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
If you berate yourself for what you deem parenting mistakes, don’t let it eat away at you.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 2, 2025
One of the world's most popular streamers, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, says trolls "berate" him every day because his number of viewers has fallen.
From BBC • Sep. 18, 2025
They’ve taught me that I don’t have to berate myself, hate myself, call myself names.
From Salon • Nov. 29, 2024
Before he can mentally berate himself for doing something so silly, the fortune-teller smiles, though for a moment there is something almost sad beneath it.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
