berate

verb

be·​rate bi-ˈrāt 

bē-

berated; berating; berates

transitive verb

: to scold or condemn vehemently and at length

being berated by her parents when she came home late

Did you know?

Berate and Rate

People have berated things—and each other—for time immemorial, but the word berate has only been known to English users since the mid-1500s. Before that, if you wanted to angrily rebuke, say, an outlaw for impersonating a fortune teller in order to steal the golden hubcaps off your royal carriage, you would rate them. Berate simply added the prefix be- to the existing verb rate, which is distinct from the rate that means “to value or esteem.” While the more familiar rate comes ultimately from Latin, the origins of the less common “scolding” rate are obscure.

Synonyms of berate

• scold
• lecture
• reprimand
• criticize

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

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

Advocates for Eastside Beltline light rail took turns blasting the MARTA Board of Directors at its meeting Thursday, berating the board for the transit agency’s pace of project delivery and for the decision made by a small group of officials to quietly stop work on the project last year. —Sara Gregory, AJC.com, 13 Feb. 2026

Sylvia berated Lew all the way home to Weston. —Allegra Goodman, Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026

McPhatter berated the man and threw him against a patrol car twice, and when the man antagonized McPhatter from the back seat of his police cruiser, the cop reached back and grabbed the glasses off his face, prosecutors allege. —John Annese, New York Daily News, 10 Feb. 2026

O’Sullivan berated an on-site staff member while using more than a dozen expletives during a 47-second video of the incident. —Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for berate

• abate
• airfreight
• await
• baseplate
• birthdate
• birthrate
• bookplate
• borate
• breastplate
• bromate
• casemate
• castrate

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Kids Definition

berate

verb

be·​rate bi-ˈrāt 

: to scold forcefully