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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.
Examples of berate in a Sentence
Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2025
Just weeks into his tenure, Vance stunned European leaders by using his speech at the Munich Security Conference to berate them over free speech and migration.
—Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 18 Apr. 2025
Trump berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and later told him to leave the White House, a shocking moment in the annals of U.S. foreign relations.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 29 Mar. 2025
In that case, prosecutors said the defendant berated a Black neighbor, used a racial slur and threatened to shoot the neighbor and his dogs, blaming sleep deprivation for his behavior, Manzo said.
—Melissa Santos, Axios, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for berate
Cite this Entry
“Berate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/berate. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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berate
verb
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