Meaning & use

berating

verb·Academic

Scolding someone angrily and at length for something they did wrong.

See it in a sentence

The coach was berating the referee over what he thought was an unfair call.

She stopped berating herself for the mistake once her friends reassured her it was minor.

A note on using this word

Berating implies a harsher, more prolonged scolding than a simple reprimand or correction.

Words with a similar meaning

scoldingreprimanding

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “berating”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.