tongue-lashed

verb

past tense of tongue-lash
as in scolded
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings the drill sergeant tongue-lashed the recruits with a colorful litany of foulmouthed invectives

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongue-lashed
  1. scolded
  2. lectured
  3. reprimanded
  4. blamed
  5. criticized
  6. chewed out
Verb
  • Mills was grabbed and scolded by defensive coordinator Aden Durde for his obvious no-no.
    — PJ Green, Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The curious boys climbed onto the roof of their home for a better look, but climbed back down when scolded by their grandmother.
    — Rina Nakano, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of scolded
Verb
  • We’re also lectured early on that Cole is a chess master, but his alleged intelligence never pays off.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • None of that made it into the discussion before Wilder lectured the girls about how to think.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of lectured
Verb
  • The lawsuit says the officer was reprimanded and removed from further field training of Wadell.
    — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Spencer Pratt, the former Republican candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, also reprimanded Khanna for pushing the statewide wealth tax while enriching himself.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of reprimanded
Verb
  • The 2015-16 El Niño pattern was blamed for record beach erosion along California’s coast.
    — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026
  • In the climate debate, low- and middle-income countries have often been blamed for rising emissions, while the vastly greater historical contribution of wealthy nations is treated as yesterday’s story.
    — Peter Beyer, STAT, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of blamed
Verb
  • He has also been criticized for his commentary about women in tennis.
    — James Hansen, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The ceremonial head of Cambridge on Sunday defended the university’s decision and criticized media coverage of Arday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of criticized
Verb
  • Being chewed out was nothing new, part of life as a football player.
    — Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • About eight or nine hours into a punishing shoot, nerves were fraying, and Mike McGuirk was getting chewed out by a camera operator.
    — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Definition of chewed out
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

tongue-lash
tongue-lashed
tongue-lashes
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tongue-lashed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongue-lashed. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of prowess

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All