Etymology
Origin of lambaste
Explanation
To lambaste is to reprimand or berate someone severely. People lambaste those who have angered or disappointed them. Have you ever watched a basketball game and noticed a coach yelling like a maniac at a referee? That coach is lambasting the referee. Lambasting is also called chewing out, taking to task, scolding, reprimanding, berating, bawling out, and chiding. Parents lambaste disobedient kids. A boss might lambaste a worker who is late all the time. Lambasting is severe and goes way beyond criticizing. When you are lambasting, you are furious at someone and letting them know it.
Vocabulary lists containing lambaste
Into the Wild
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The Other Wes Moore
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I've Never Been So Insulted...
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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’s one thing for Mamdani supporters to imbibe “eat the rich” rhetoric, it’s another to lambaste small-time shopkeepers as greedy exploiters when they are the backbone of neighborhood food provision and cultural cohesion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
Gaetz, as a man, appears to be widely detested by his former colleagues, given the number willing to publicly lambaste him.
From Salon • Nov. 14, 2024
I arranged the interview because I wanted to check in on a politician I’ve been friendly with for years yet didn’t hesitate to lambaste after her accident.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2024
No—Ackman’s saved his invective to lambaste perceived wrongdoings at Harvard, instead.
From Slate • Dec. 14, 2023
True, the students didn't lambaste Ian and Randy that year as they had in the past, however, in a way, they were just as bad.
From Wild Justice by Sprague, Ruth M.
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.
