Word of the Day Archive
Thursday January 17, 2008

upbraid \uhp-BRAYD\ , transitive verb:
To scold or criticize harshly.

Afterwards, Grace roundly upbraided the boy for his boorishness.
-- Paul L. Mariani, The Broken Tower

That single incident is the only time I can remember my father upbraiding me for my dismal performance as a midshipman.
-- John McCain with Mark Salter, Faith of My Fathers

It could have been mistakenly concluded from this speech upbraiding bad landlords that G. H. Moore was against landlordism as a whole.
-- Adrian Frazier, George Moore, 1852-1933

Get Word of the Day on your iPhone or iPod touch »


Download the FREE Dictionary.com app

Upbraid is from Middle English upbreiden, from Old English upbregdan, "to twist up, hence to reproach," from up-, "up" + bregdan, "to move back and forth; to weave."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for upbraid

 

AddThis:  AddThis: del.icio.usAddThis: digg.comAddThis: FacebookAddThis: furl.netAddThis: www.netscape.comAddThis: myweb2.search.yahoo.comAddThis: www.stumbleupon.comAddThis: www.google.comAddThis: www.technorati.comAddThis: blinklist.comAddThis: newsvine.comAddThis: ma.gnolia.comAddThis: reddit.comAddThis: favorites.live.com