How does the verb rail differ from other similar words?
Some common synonyms of rail are berate, revile, scold, upbraid, and vituperate. While all these words mean "to reproach angrily and abusively," rail (at or against) stresses an unrestrained berating.
railed loudly at their insolence
When could berate be used to replace rail?
In some situations, the words berate and rail are roughly equivalent. However, berate suggests prolonged and often abusive scolding.
berated continually by an overbearing boss
When is it sensible to use revile instead of rail?
While the synonyms revile and rail are close in meaning, revile implies a scurrilous, abusive attack prompted by anger or hatred.
an alleged killer reviled in the press
When is scold a more appropriate choice than rail?
The words scold and rail can be used in similar contexts, but scold implies rebuking in irritation or ill temper justly or unjustly.
angrily scolding the children
When would upbraid be a good substitute for rail?
The words upbraid and rail are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, upbraid implies censuring on definite and usually justifiable grounds.
upbraided her assistants for poor research
In what contexts can vituperate take the place of rail?
The synonyms vituperate and rail are sometimes interchangeable, but vituperate suggests a violent reviling.
was vituperated for betraying his friends
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rail
Noun
And there’s plenty of bad out there — including a news story about a faulty railing giving way and causing a woman’s death.—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2025 Independent redistricting advocates have railed against politically skewed voting districts designed to benefit one political party, describing such gerrymandering as a way to distort election outcomes by letting politicians choose their voters instead of the other way around.—Clara Hendrickson, Freep.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Verb
Officers recovered a folding knife near the outbound light rail platform, the affidavit said.—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2025 Exterior upgrades include a more aggressive look with adaptive dampers, 22-inch wheels and black-and-chrome exterior accents, including black roof rails.—James Raia, Mercury News, 19 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rail
For the filmmakers working in the region over the past two years, it’s been a long, arduous road to reach audiences, as the war impacted their physical productions and made potential distributors wary of facing political backlash for releasing their films.
—
Rebecca Keegan,
NBC news,
23 Oct. 2025
Gripen fighters have the reputation of being relatively cheap and easy to maintain and arm, and able to operate in austere conditions – using roads or even dirt roads for runways.
Cheung played a tape of Nicholson ranting and raving at the Kaiser facility in Irvine.
—
City News Service,
Oc Register,
22 Oct. 2025
She is outwardly spoken against transgender rights and has ranted several times about Representative Sarah McBride, an openly transgender member of Congress, and her pronouns.
On Wednesday, the jury charged Brown with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, which is a capital offense under federal law.
—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Much of the Nickel Plate Trail follows the path of the former railroad for which it's named.
Predictably, Khomeini fulminated about Carter’s visit.
—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
As for fighting the Trump pressure campaign, even politicians as ambitious as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker are mostly left to file lawsuits — and fulminate.
—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
5 May 2025
Stone and Lanthimos have since worked together several times, and their collaboration, a mutual-favoritism society, has been hailed and sometimes reviled for its darkly exuberant sense of risk.
—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
24 Oct. 2025
Can someone in demand really be that widely reviled?
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