browbeat
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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browbeatsimple
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browbeatssimple
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have browbeatenperfect
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has browbeatenperfect
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are browbeatingprogressive
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am browbeatingprogressive
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is browbeatingprogressive
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have been browbeatingperfect progressive
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has been browbeatingperfect progressive
Past
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browbeatsimple
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had browbeatenperfect
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was browbeatingprogressive
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were browbeatingprogressive
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had been browbeatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of browbeat
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.
Vocabulary lists containing browbeat
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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The Secret Life of Bees
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List 6
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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.
In a June 28 Browbeat, Cleo Levin misstated the name of the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
From Slate • Jun. 30, 2017
In an April 18 Browbeat, David Canfield misstated when Michael Grandage was announced as the Frozen musical director.
From Slate • Apr. 21, 2017
It’s conceivable this was part of the plan all along: Browbeat, spurn, and lie to the media one day so they’ll feel grateful when you even deign to argue with them the next.
From Slate • Jan. 23, 2017
In a June 2 Browbeat, Aisha Harris misstated that Lin-Manuel Miranda made an official announcement about the date of his final show.
From Slate • Jun. 3, 2016
"Browbeat by the master, hated for my ugly face by the mistress, worried by the boys"—if that was his life, he was much to be pitied.
From Goldsmith English Men of Letters Series by Black, William
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.
