rebuke
[verb]
Synonyms:
- scold, admonish, castigate, censure, chide, dress down (informal), give a rocket (Brit. & N.Z. informal), haul (someone) over the coals (informal), reprimand, reprove, tear (someone) off a strip (informal), tell off (informal)
[noun]
Synonyms:
- scolding, admonition, censure, dressing down (informal), reprimand, row, telling-off (informal)

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Contrasted words: applause, compliment, praise
Related Idioms: a flea in one's ear, slap on the wrist
Related Words: dressing down, earful, lecture, lesson, scolding, talking-to, tongue-lashing

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English Thesaurus: reprimand, scold, tell somebody off, give somebody a talking-to, lecture, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

re‧buke /rɪˈbjuːk/ verb [transitive]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old North French; Origin: rebuker, from bukier 'to hit, cut down']
formal to speak to someone severely about something they have done wrong Synonym : reprimand
rebuke somebody for doing something
Members of the jury were sharply rebuked for speaking to the press.
—rebuke noun [uncountable and countable]:
a rebuke from the President

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

rebuke
noun
ADJ. sharp, stern, stinging | gentle, mild | silent | implied | public
VERB + REBUKE receive | draw, earn (sb) Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.
accept He meekly accepted the rebuke.
administer If the general found his authority questioned he invariably administered a sharp rebuke.
PREP. ~ for, ~ from They received a public rebuke from the prime minister for their handling of the matter.
~ to He hit back with a stinging rebuke to his critics.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

rebuke
verb
ADV. sharply | gently | publicly
PREP. for She rebuked herself sharply for her stupidity.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

reprimand formal to tell someone that they have done something wrong or illegal and are being punished for it – used especially in official contexts:
The police officers were officially reprimanded for their behaviour.
The Swiss authorities severely reprimanded the banks for accepting $660million from the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.
Debra remembered as a very young child being reprimanded by her father.
scold formal if a parent, teacher, or other adult scolds a child, they talk to them angrily because they have done something wrong. Scold sounds rather formal and old-fashioned. In everyday English people usually say tell somebody off:
I dreaded the thought of going home and being scolded by my father.
tell somebody off to talk angrily to someone because they have done something wrong. Tell somebody off is more common in British English than American English:
Dad told me off for getting home late.
give somebody a talking-to informal to talk angrily to a child because they have done something wrong:
The boy was giving a good talking-to and sent home.
lecture to talk angrily to someone for a long time about something they have done wrong, especially in a way that they think is not necessary or fair:
Stop lecturing me, will you!
He began to lecture her about her duties as a citizen.
rebuke formal to tell someone that they should not have done something:
She rebuked him for being late.
Sheerman rebuked his colleague for suggesting that he was too stupid to understand what he was saying.
reproach formal to talk to someone in a way that shows you are disappointed at what they have done. Reproach sounds much gentler than criticizing someone or reprimanding them:
He felt he had to reproach his friend for his excessive drinking.
berate formal to publicly criticize someone for a long time, in a way that shows you strongly disapprove of what they have done:
She berated the paper for its 'misleading front-page story.'
Kennedy berated the Eisenhower administration and its vice president Richard Nixon, during the 1960 campaign.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲