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First things first: do not confuse upbraid with topknot lest you be upbraided for it. Topknot is a noun referring to a hairstyle, while upbraid is a verb (and an ancient one at that) meaning “to criticize or scold severely.” However, it may soothe your pride to know that the braid in upbraid likely comes from the same source as our hirsutal verb braid, meaning “to do up (the hair) by interweaving three or more strands.” That source is the Old English word bregdan, which could be used to mean “to snatch,” “to move suddenly,” or “to plait,” i.e. “braid.” The Old English verb ūpbregdan is probably a combination of this bregdan with ūp, meaning “up.” If the connection between moving suddenly upward at someone and berating them seems obscure, you might consider upbraid to be a more formal counterpart of the expression “to get/be in someone’s face.”
Examples of upbraid in a Sentence
Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
That starts with upbraiding Chapman’s would-be assassin, who’s still nursing injuries from being run over by a taxicab — this after handling three other agents quite capably.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2024
The stupidity of his denigration of the COVID vaccines — there’s that word again — brought him a joint upbraiding by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2023.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2024
On occasion, Muslim countries had publicly upbraided India, even if that rhetoric did not lead to any concrete change in policy.
—Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs, 30 June 2022
See All Example Sentences for upbraid
Cite this Entry
“Upbraid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upbraid. Accessed 23 Jun. 2025.
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upbraid
verb
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