as in scolds
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
there's no need to berate someone for making a mistake during the first day on the job
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Recent Examples of berates
And Vance berates Democrats in a visit to Minneapolis.
—
Kayla Hayempour,
NBC news,
23 Jan. 2026
Cast members performed on The Tonight Show and in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, in a sketch in which host Bad Bunny berates his friends for failing to grasp the movie’s brilliance.
—
Eliza Berman,
Time,
9 Dec. 2025
The president publicly berates reporters — often female ones — for cheap laughs several times a week, and is met with little more than shrugs.
—
Joe Garofoli,
San Francisco Chronicle,
14 Oct. 2025
In another clip, his mother berates Pormanove over the phone for letting the co-streamers shave off parts of his hair.
—
Philippe Cordier,
CNN Money,
20 Aug. 2025
Kayla Hayempour,
NBC news,
23 Jan. 2026
Cast members performed on The Tonight Show and in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, in a sketch in which host Bad Bunny berates his friends for failing to grasp the movie’s brilliance.
—
Eliza Berman,
Time,
9 Dec. 2025
The president publicly berates reporters — often female ones — for cheap laughs several times a week, and is met with little more than shrugs.
—
Joe Garofoli,
San Francisco Chronicle,
14 Oct. 2025
In another clip, his mother berates Pormanove over the phone for letting the co-streamers shave off parts of his hair.
—
Philippe Cordier,
CNN Money,
20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for berates
Verb
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Someone else scolds the offender.
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Inspired by This Is Spinal Tap, Cundieff makes quick work of lambasting the casual misogyny and homophobia ingrained in hardcore rap, but also of the media scolds unable to parse the message of the music.
Verb
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His supervisor appears as a ticket conductor and reprimands him for doing nothing.
Verb
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The couple has been targeted by a group called Boycott Divest Zabludowicz, which criticizes them for supporting a pro-Israel lobby.
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That letter, referenced in the Brandeis Center complaint, criticizes the APA for failing to discipline a former division president, Lara Sheehi, for various incendiary comments about Zionism.
Verb
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Today’s successful downtowns rely on a mix of ingredients, said Steven Falk, the former city manager of Lafayette, who’s served as an interim city executive in Oakland and Richmond and who lectures at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
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Bad teams are given mechanisms to recover, not lectures about bootstraps.
Verb
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The nonprofit blames the lack of progress on government red tape and diminishing federal funding to provide subsidies and incentives.
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Industry, like tobacco companies, turns a blind eye to the problem, continues its mass production to achieve maximum profit and blames the consumer for bad choices.
Cite this Entry
“Berates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/berates. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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