Meaning & use
berating
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“berating” is a form of “berate”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
Telling someone off angrily and for a long time because of something they did wrong.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with for: berating him for his mistake.
Patterns
- berate someone
- berate someone for something
The coach was berating the players for their poor effort.
She stood in the doorway, berating her son for coming home late.
Customers were berating the clerk about the long delay.
noununcountableformal
The act of angrily criticizing someone at length.
Grammar: Uncountable, with no article: a harsh berating.
Patterns
- a berating from someone
The intern endured a public berating from his boss.
After the loss, the team faced a long berating in the locker room.
Word forms
| base form | berate |
|---|---|
| third person singular | berates |
| past tense | berated |
| past participle | berated |
Common combinations
- berate someone for
- He berated his brother for losing the keys.
- publicly berate
- The manager publicly berated the staff.
- berate angrily
- She berated him angrily.
- berate the referee
- Fans berated the referee after the final whistle.
- harsh berating
- The driver received a harsh berating.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scold
- Scold is more common and can be mild, while berate suggests anger and longer duration.
- rebuke
- Rebuke is formal and often brief and stern, whereas berating goes on longer.
- lecture
- Lecture suggests a long talk about right and wrong, often less angry than berating.
- upbraid
- Upbraid is rarer and more literary but close in meaning to berate.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: berating or berth?
berating vs berth
Berth is a place to sleep on a ship or a place for a boat to dock, and sounds somewhat like berate.
Practice
The manager was ___ the new employee for missing the deadline when the director walked in.
Choose one answer.
Missing a deadline leads to angry criticism, which berating means. Praising and thanking do not suit failure, and informing lacks the sense of anger.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “berating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.