Berate
Pronunciation
- IPA: /bɪˈɹeɪt/
- Rhymes: -eɪt
Origin
From - + rate("to scold, upbraid"), from Middle English raten ("to scold, chide"), from Old Norse hrata ("to refuse, reject, slight, find fault with"), from Proto-Germanic *hratjanÄ…, *hratÅnÄ… ("to sway, shake"), from Proto-Indo-European *krad- ("to swing"). Cognate with Swedish rata ("to reject, refuse, find fault, slight"), Norwegian rata ("to reject, cast aside"), Old English hratian ("to rush, hasten").
Full definition of berate
Verb
- (transitive) To chide or scold vehemently.
- 1896, Gilbert Parker, Seats Of The Mighty, ch. 13:Gabord, still muttering, turned to us again, and began to berate the soldiers for their laziness.
- 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Gods of Mars, ch. 21:A thousand times I berated myself for being drawn into such a trap as I might have known these pits easily could be.
- 1917, Jack London, Jerry of the Islands, ch. 14:Lenerengo, as usual, forgot everything else in the fiercer pleasure of berating her spouse.
- 2008, Alex Perry, "The Man Who Would Be (Congo's) King," Time, 27 Nov.:During the rally, he berates the crowd for their cowardice.
- 2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/15210221.stmFrance were supposedly a team in pieces, beaten by Tonga just a week ago and with coach Marc Lievremont publicly berating his players, but so clear-cut was their victory that much of the atmosphere had been sucked from the contest long before the end.