berate

verb be·rate \ bi-ˈrāt , bē- \

Updated on: 10 Apr 2018

Definition of berate

transitive verb

: to scold or condemn vehemently and at length

being berated by her parents when she came home late

See berate defined for English-language learners

See berate defined for kids

berate was our Word of the Day on 07/25/2016. Hear the podcast!

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 of berate from the Web

Her mother’s second husband berated young Chrissy over her weight.

— hal boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Chrissy Metz pays it forward with 'This Is Me'," 27 Mar. 2018
DeMar DeRozan was ejected for berating the officials after a series of crucial no-calls.

— andrew joseph, For The Win, "Kyle Lowry had the best reaction to the refs ejecting the wrong person," 18 Mar. 2018
In a lengthy statement on her Instagram story this morning, the singer berated the social media platform for its insensitivity towards domestic violence victims.

— erica gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Rihanna Savagely Responds to Snapchat's Tone-Deaf Ad About Her and Chris Brown," 15 Mar. 2018
Few coaches berated players with more colorful language than Barnes did during his first decade in Austin, but swore off cursing after that.

— mike finger, San Antonio Express-News, "After Garrido’s passing, Barnes honors his spirit," 15 Mar. 2018
Outbursts mar problem solving In the last six months Black has twice been publicly accused of berating employees.

— sharon coolidge, Cincinnati.com, "Harry Black's tumultuous tenure as Cincinnati city manager: Threats, lawsuits, turnover," 11 Mar. 2018
In a letter to members posted on its website Friday, CEO Gayle Smith said that between late 2011 and early 2015 staffers in South Africa were bullied, berated and belittled by managers.

— juliet linderman, chicagotribune.com, "Internal probe finds misconduct within Bono's advocacy group," 10 Mar. 2018
To be sure, executives could be downplaying risks -- to soothe investors, or to get on the right side of Trump: the president has a track record of berating bosses over offshore jobs.

— andrew mayeda, Bloomberg.com, "American CEOs Say They’re Ready to Bring Jobs Home If Nafta Dies," 26 Feb. 2018
Mentally lift yourself up instead of berating or nitpicking your appearance, and employ a professional who can help along the way.

— NBC News, "How often do the happiest couples have sex? (It's less than you think)," 13 Feb. 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.

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.

First Known Use of berate

1548

berate Synonyms

Synonyms

bawl out, call down, castigate, chastise, chew out, dress down, flay, hammer, jaw, keelhaul, lambaste (or lambast), lecture, rag, rail (at or against), rant (at), rate, ream (out), rebuke, reprimand, reproach, scold, score, tongue-lash, upbraid;

Near Antonyms

approve, endorse (also indorse), sanction;

extol (also extoll), laud, praise;

abuse, assail, attack, bad-mouth, blame, blast, censure, condemn, criticize, crucify, denounce, dis (also diss) [slang], excoriate, fault, harangue, knock, lace (into), lash, pan, reprehend, revile, scourge, slam, vituperate;

belittle, disparage, mock, put down;

ridicule, scoff, scorn;

Phrases

lay into, read the riot act (to), take to task;

Synonym Discussion of berate

scold, upbraid, berate, rail, revile, vituperate mean to reproach angrily and abusively. scold implies rebuking in irritation or ill temper justly or unjustly.