berate
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 6, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n berate • \\bih-RAYT\\ • verb
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To berate someone is to angrily scold or criticize them, often loudly and at length.
\n\n// \u201cDon\u2019t berate yourself over canceling plans,\u201d his friend told him. \u201cSometimes you just need to take care of yourself.\u201d
\n\n\n \n \n\n Examples:
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\u201cThe autonomous vehicles, which provide tens of thousands of rides each week, have been torched, stomped on, and verbally berated in recent months.\u201d \u2014 Paresh Dave, WIRED, 22 July 2024
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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People have berated things\u2014and each other\u2014for time immemorial, but the word berate has only been known to English users since the mid-1500s. Before that, if you wanted to angrily rebuke, say, an outlaw for impersonating a fortune teller in order to steal the golden hubcaps off your royal carriage, you would rate them. Berate simply added the prefix be- to the existing verb rate, which is distinct from the rate that means \u201cto value or esteem.\u201d While the more familiar rate comes ultimately from Latin, the origins of the less common \u201cscolding\u201d rate are obscure.
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