Definition of BERATE

Choose the Right Synonym for berate

scold, upbraid, berate, rail, revile, vituperate mean to reproach angrily and abusively. scold implies rebuking in irritation or ill temper justly or unjustly. angrily scolding the children upbraid implies censuring on definite and usually justifiable grounds. upbraided her assistants for poor research berate suggests prolonged and often abusive scolding. berated continually by an overbearing boss rail (at or against) stresses an unrestrained berating. railed loudly at their insolence revile implies a scurrilous, abusive attack prompted by anger or hatred. an alleged killer reviled in the press vituperate suggests a violent reviling. was vituperated for betraying his friends

Berate and Rate

Berate and rate can both mean "to scold angrily or violently." This sense of rate was first recorded in the 14th century, roughly two centuries before the now more familiar (and etymologically unrelated) rate meaning "to estimate the value of." We know that berate was probably formed by combining be and the older rate, but the origins of this particular rate itself are somewhat more obscure. We can trace the word back to the Middle English form raten, but beyond that things get a little murky. It's possible that rate, and by extension berate, derives from the same ancient word that led to the Swedish rata (meaning "to find blame, despise") and earlier the Old Norse hrata ("to fall, stagger"), but this is uncertain.

Examples of berate in a Sentence

there's no need to berate someone for making a mistake during the first day on the job

Recent Examples on the Web

Former aides have reported that Rokita berated staffers to tears, docked pay for minor mistakes and forced them to undertake demeaning tasks, like cleaning his car after a campaign driver had body odor. — Joseph Weber, Fox News, "Republicans vie to challenge vulnerable Manchin, Donnelly in looming primary battles," 30 Apr. 2018 Major League Baseball umpires apparently were not happy when a video of former Mets manager Terry Collins berating a crew chief went viral this week. — Pete Grathoff, kansascity, "MLB is trying to scrub this video of manager arguing with an umpire from the internet," 14 June 2018 Chief Judge Jack Tuter, who oversees the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Fort Lauderdale, released a statement over the weekend berating Ehrlich for her conduct. — Chuck Johnston, CNN, "Judge not allowed back to court after berating woman who died," 23 Apr. 2018 In recent months, gymnasts have come forward with complaints about the ranch and the Karolyis: the accommodations were substandard; the food was terrible; they were berated and body-shamed. — NBC News, "Silent no more: Inside the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal," 22 Apr. 2018 Trump berated Sessions privately and, starting in July 2017, mocked and insulted him publicly in an apparent effort to goad him into resigning. — Andrew Prokop, Vox, "The many scandals of Trump’s new acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, explained," 14 Nov. 2018 Shahid never slept, not at night and not during the day and not after his pediatrician berated me for the expectation. — Sorayya Khan, Longreads, "The Cities in Me," 8 Feb. 2018 Midway through the discussion, Putin turned directly to McFaul and berated him for trying to ruin United States-Russia relations. — Daniel Beer, New York Times, "Does Vladimir Putin Speak for the Russian People?," 6 July 2018 Shulaya physically assaulted the older male and verbally berated him. — Garrett Graff, Longreads, "A Vor Never Sleeps," 5 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'berate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.