Berate – Word of the Day
Meaning:
Scold or criticise someone in anger
Origin:
This word traces its origin back to the mid-16th century. It is a compound of two words: be-(meaning “thoroughly”), and rate. Here the origins are a bit hazy. It’s possible that rate – and by extension berate – comes from the same ancient word that led to the Swedish rata (meaning “to find blame, despise”) and earlier the Old Norse hrata (“to fall, stagger”). Nobody knows for sure, though.
Usage:
- I berated my junior analyst for lack of preparation before the big pitch. He almost cost us a deal worth a million dollars!
- She berated herself for not being careful enough to lock the gate before turning in for the night. Now she would have to look for a sheep that had escaped into the woods.
- If you want to survive in your first year as an investment banker, you need to learn how to handle a berating without letting it break you.
- The architect had to endure a vicious berating from his client as the preliminary plans for the new building did not fit the client’s vision.
- It is never fun for an employer to berate one of his star employees, especially for a minor error.
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