RAILING (AT OR AGAINST) Synonyms: 70 Similar and Opposite Words

railing (at or against)

verb

present participle of rail (at or against)

as in scolding

to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings we could hear the cook in the kitchen railing against his assistant and wondered if we'd ever get our food

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for railing (at or against)

Verb

Remake includes footage of Adrian urging his father to consider Carr’s offer, and gently scolding him for having passed up certain opportunities to make money—money that would have made the family's life better—off his filmmaking acumen.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 10 July 2026
Soon though, Shawna noticed some of Zaayer's strange behaviors — including scolding her grandson, getting upset over cleaning habits and allegedly showing them racist videos.

— Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026

Definition of scolding

Verb

College professors spend less time lecturing than a typical sportswriter creating fake controversies to criticize.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 June 2026
If and until that day comes, there will be fingerpointing, lecturing and posturing, all of which has flowed freely in the wake of the Sorsby decision.

— ABC News, ABC News, 10 June 2026

Definition of lecturing

Verb

Like Bezos, whose Sun Valley uniform has included jeans with T-shirts and polo shirts, many of the male tech executives are dressing down.

— Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 10 July 2026
Hardline politicians slammed the president’s unorthodox choice of attire and activists accused him of double standards, where under Iran’s strict dress codes, ordinary people would be barred from dressing down.

— Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 12 June 2026

Definition of dressing down

Verb

Her Volumnia bellows at her meek daughter-in-law, Virgilia (Justine Faith) as though reprimanding an incompetent private.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Earlier this week, Scott Agness claimed his press credentials were revoked by the team after his reporting led to the WNBA reprimanding the Fever for not being transparent about Clark’s health status during a game on May 20.

— Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 5 June 2026

Definition of reprimanding

Verb

Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had again been aggressively criticizing NATO for its lack of support over Iran and for failing to spend anywhere near enough money on its own security.

— Justina Lee, CNBC, 10 July 2026
That didn't stop the public from criticizing the weekend congestion.

— Noe Padilla, USA Today, 10 July 2026

Definition of criticizing

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railing (against)

railing (at or against)

railings

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“Railing (at or against).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/railing%20%28at%20or%20against%29. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of railing (at or against)

verb

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