upbraid
/ʌpˈbreɪd
/verb [with object]
Find fault with (someone); scold: he was upbraided for his slovenly appearance...
- Above all the noise, Margaret could be heard upbraiding her husband - ‘It's your own fault, Ben, you should have picked one of mine!’
- Elissa scolded him, calling him a coward, and upbraiding him for not showing backbone.
- A gentleman upbraids his servant: is it true, he asks him, that you have had the audacity to spread around the idea that your master is stingy?
Synonyms
reprimand, rebuke, reproach, scold, admonish, reprove, remonstrate with, chastise, chide, berate, take to task, pull up, castigate, lambaste, read someone the Riot Act, give someone a piece of one's mind, haul over the coals, criticize, censure
informal tell off, give someone a talking-to, give someone a telling-off, dress down, give someone a dressing-down, give someone an earful, give someone a roasting, give someone a rocket, give someone a rollicking, rap, rap someone over the knuckles, slap someone's wrist, let someone have it, bawl out, give someone hell, come down on, blow up, pitch into, lay into, lace into, give someone a caning, blast, rag, keelhaul
British informal tick off, have a go at, carpet, monster, give someone a mouthful, tear someone off a strip, give someone what for, wig, give someone a wigging, row, give someone a row
North American informal chew out, ream out
British vulgar slang bollock, give someone a bollocking
North American vulgar slang chew someone's ass, ream someone's ass
dated call down, rate, give someone a rating, trim
rare reprehend, objurgate
Origin
Late Old English upbrēdan 'allege (something) as a basis for censure', based on braid in the obsolete sense 'brandish'. The current sense dates from Middle English.
Late Old English upbrēdan meant ‘allege (something) as a basis for censure’, based on braid in the obsolete sense ‘brandish’ thus giving a notion of holding something up for disapproval. The current sense ‘find fault with’ is Middle English.