browbeat

American  

[brou-beet] / ˈbraʊˌbit /

verb (used with object)

browbeat, browbeaten, browbeating

1. to intimidate by overbearing looks or words; bully.

   They browbeat him into agreeing.

   Synonyms:

   coerce, harass, tyrannize, badger, cow

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browbeat British  

/ ˈbraʊˌbiːt /

verb

1. (tr) to discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate

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Other Word Forms

• browbeater noun

Etymology

Origin of browbeat

First recorded in 1575–85; brow + beat

Explanation

To browbeat is to intimidate with language. Picture yourself in a police station. The cops are trying to get you to talk by using tough, even abusive, language. They are browbeating you. When someone browbeats you, they're giving you a beating with their mouth and their mind. If your parents have to browbeat you into cleaning your room, they nag you, yell at you and they may even make fun of you and your bad cleaning habits. While the word brow means forehead, think that they're using their head, or brow, to beat you down. It's a figurative, rather than a literal, beating.

Example Sentences

But when things started to get "really crazy", she browbeat her parents into coming with her.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2025

But blunt rhetoric is often used only to browbeat others and distort facts.

From Salon • Jun. 8, 2023

Spektor said that despite the Biden administration’s attempt to cajole, rather than browbeat, developing nations into supporting its global priorities, they would probably remain wary.

From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 2023

“Attorney General Garland is my constituent, and I don’t browbeat my constituents,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

From Washington Times • Jun. 12, 2022

“I hope you don’t think we’re gonna browbeat our students to please you’all,” she said.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

Related Words

• badger
• bully
• coerce
• harass
• hector
• intimidate
• lean on
• oppress