MEANING
To criticize or scold someone angrily and at length.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- berate someone for a mistake
- berate oneself
On the page
She berated him for leaving the gate open during the storm.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- berate
- Past tense
- berated
- Past participle
- berated
- Present participle
- berating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- berate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are berating
- Present perfect
- have/has berated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been berating
- Past
- berated
- Past continuous
- was/were berating
- Past perfect
- had berated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been berating
- Future
- will berate
- Future continuous
- will be berating
- Future perfect
- will have berated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been berating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: berate; berates; berated; berated; berating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: berates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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