as in to scold
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
the drill sergeant tongue-lashed the recruits with a colorful litany of foulmouthed invectives
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Recent Examples of tongue-lash
Spencer died Sunday at his home in Palm Desert, according to his daughter, Karen.
Spencer once dreamed of coaching big-time college football and his blunt, salty style could have served him well barking orders from the sideline or delivering a tongue-lashing locker-room speech.
—
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongue-lash
Verb
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On our hike, Jessie Krebs scolds her boots for sliding on a slick, house-size boulder.—
Andrew McKean,
Outdoor Life,
19 Mar. 2026
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But the Commission's chairman, Brendan Carr, scolded Amazon last week, saying the company should focus on its own satellite efforts, rather than criticize SpaceX.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Joanna Fabicon, who has lectured on contemporary children’s literature at UCLA, added that educators, librarians and publishers must all grapple with the allegations against Chávez and decide how to move forward.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Mar. 2026
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Thiel has previously written and lectured on the subject, arguing that the Antichrist is not necessarily a person but could come as a global government system.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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That’s part of it, sometimes, but multiple girls do that this week and then get reprimanded for not having enough family resemblance.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
21 Mar. 2026
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In footage that circulated on social media after Sunday's telecast, the 35-year-old Best Supporting Actress nominee and recording artist was shown reprimanding someone off camera while others stepped between them.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Roughly 20 minutes later, the controller appeared to blame himself.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
24 Mar. 2026
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Cronin blamed himself for not finding a way to stop Connecticut forward Alex Karaban, who scored 27 points and helped fuel two decisive runs for the Huskies.—
Jon Marks,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Rogers, reportedly to the shock of those in attendance, backed up Microsoft by criticizing the work of the auditors.—
Robert Schmad,
The Washington Examiner,
23 Mar. 2026
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Lee criticized the failure of Bondi's DOJ to take new action against Epstein associates, even as the United Kingdom has made arrests based on information in the latest releases of files.—
Aysha Bagchi,
USA Today,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Below, Bevel was crouched six feet from Jackson when Dr. Abernathy called down to ask him to go over to the temple where King had spoken, and calm the people.—
Gail Sheehy,
Vanity Fair,
20 Feb. 2026
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Ming opened up her fourth floor window and called down to the firefighters below.—
Kate Talerico,
San Francisco Chronicle,
19 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tongue-lash.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongue-lash. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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