as in to scold
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 berate
In July 2025, media personality Akademiks berated TDE during one of his livestream rants for allegedly using bots to boost Doechii’s streaming numbers.
—
Kyle Eustice, VIBE.com, 30 Mar. 2026
After Papperger’s comments appeared, Ukrainians took to social media to berate him under the hashtag #MadeByHousewives.
—ABC News, 30 Mar. 2026
The lawsuit also said that when complaints were made about the harassment, they were not properly investigated and the employees were subject to retaliation, including being given double shifts, being accused of wrongdoing and being berated and yelled at by supervisors.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
According to the lawsuit, Reese and Prince walked into Aldi when Johnson began to berate him about bringing the dog into the store.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for berate
Kyle Eustice, VIBE.com, 30 Mar. 2026
After Papperger’s comments appeared, Ukrainians took to social media to berate him under the hashtag #MadeByHousewives.
—ABC News, 30 Mar. 2026
The lawsuit also said that when complaints were made about the harassment, they were not properly investigated and the employees were subject to retaliation, including being given double shifts, being accused of wrongdoing and being berated and yelled at by supervisors.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
According to the lawsuit, Reese and Prince walked into Aldi when Johnson began to berate him about bringing the dog into the store.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for berate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for berate
Verb
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But the stunt goes south as Wooley turns out to be an unabashed bigot who embarrasses the show and gets scolded by the host.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2026
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This cross-partisan skit is refreshing and the only people who might hate it are Cuomo supporters and maybe some woke scolds.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The van’s speakers played a high-volume mashup of construction sounds, Jordan Peterson lectures, Marine Corps drills, and mumbling voices.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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Joanna Fabicon, who has lectured on contemporary children’s literature at UCLA, added that educators, librarians and publishers must all grapple with the allegations against Chávez and decide how to move forward.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As a result, the officer was reprimanded for violating police department policy, including loss of take-home squad privileges and suspension from off-duty employment.—
Anna Ortiz,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
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If this is for a work assignment, the consequence could be getting reprimanded for either taking too long or producing work of sub-par quality.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Two advisers to Qatar told me that Global Risk had also conducted background checks and written reports on people linked to campaigns criticizing Qatar; corporate-intelligence firms often provide such open-source research.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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However, in a pair of letters to the editor published in the Journal of Pediatrics, doctors criticized the article as hyped.—
David Hilzenrath,
USA Today,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Berate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/berate. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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