Word.ws English Dictionary

bewray

/bɪˈɹeɪ/

bewray verb: to accuse; malign; speak evil of.

Verb (1)

bewray (third-person singular simple present bewrays, present participle bewraying, simple past and past participle bewrayed)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To accuse; malign; speak evil of.
  2. (transitive) To reveal, divulge, or make (something) known; disclose.
    • Two kindes of Dogges. One which rouſeth the beaſt and continueth the chaſe. Another which ſpringeth the byrde and bewrayeth the flight by purſuite, […]1576, Iohannes [i.e., John] Caius, “The Preamble or Entraunce, into this Treatise”, in Abraham Fleming, transl., Of Englishe Dogges, the Diuersities, the Names, the Natures, and the Properties. […]...
    • His countenance bewraies he is displeasd.1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC...
    1. (transitive) To reveal or disclose and show the presence or true character of, especially if unintentionally or incidentally, or else if perfidiously, prejudicially, or to one's discredit.
      • He tooke hir fast betwéene his armes, and not without his shame, / Bewrayed plainly what he was and wherefore that he came.1567, Ovid, “The Seconde Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, lines 539–540
      • But to put you out of doubt that my wits were not all this while a wol-gathering, I was debating with my selfe whether in loue, it wer better to be constant, bewraying all the counsayles, or secret, being readye euery houre to flinch:1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC
    2. (transitive) To expose or rat out (someone).
      • And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 26:73
      • While this busy search was diligently applied and put in execution, Humphrey Banaster (were it more for fear of loss of life and goods, or attracted and provoked by the avaricious desire of the thousand pounds) he bewrayed his guest and master to John Mitton, then Sheriff of Shropshire, …1846, Introduction to Letter 40 in Henry Ellis (editor), Original Letters, Illustrative of English History, Third Series, Volume I, London: Richard Bentley, p. 100
    3. (obsolete, transitive) To expose to harm.
      • Though thou deseruest hardly at my hands, / Yet neuer shall these lips bewray thy life.c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published...
      • But we will not eat nor drink with the lords of Witchland, who bewrayed and forsook us their sworn confederates at the sea-fight against the Ghouls.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 30
    4. (obsolete, transitive) To expose (a deception).
      • They place affection by times, by pollicy, by appoyntment, if they frowne, who dares call them vnconstant, if bewray secrets, who will tearme them vntrue, if fall to other loues, who trembles not, if he call them vnfaithfull.1581, John Lyly, Campaspe: Played Beefore the Queenes Maiestie on Twelfe Day at Night
      • For to discover this matter the better, he saith consequently: That the nature of virtuous men and those who have noble bringing up, is directly opposite unto that of long-tongued persons; and joining the reasons by which a man ought not to bewray his secret, together with those evils and...1603, Plutarch, translated by Philemon Holland, The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC

Verb (2)

bewray (third-person singular simple present bewrays, present participle bewraying, simple past and past participle bewrayed)

  1. (obsolete) To soil or befoul; to beray.
    • Obscene with filth the varlet lies bewray’d,
      Fal’n in the plash his wickedness had lay’d:1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Second”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, page 18
    • Like caterpillars dangling under trees
      By slender threads, and swinging in the breeze,
      Which filthily bewray and sore disgrace
      The boughs in which are bred th’ unseemly race […]1785, William Cowper, “Tirocinium: Or, A Review of Schools”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 324
    Synonyms:
    bedirty, begrime, besully, assoil, beclart, bedaub, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth

bewray meaning in Urdu

bewray in Urdu

فاش کرنا, پٹ کھولنا

Examples of bewray in a sentence

  • Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy Liege, Whom thou obeyedst thirty and six years, And not bewray thy treason with a blush?c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories...
  • Should we be silent and not speak, our raiment / And state of bodies would bewray what life / We have led since thy exile.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies...
  • And the lily gleam white, where the lakelets flow, / And the trailing arbutus shroud its grace, / Till fragrance bewrayed its hiding-place,1841, Lydia Sigourney, Pocahontas and Other Poems (New York edition), Native Scenery, page 50:
  • His very speeches bewray the man – intensely human, frank and single-hearted1905 August 22, The Times, page 6, col. A:

Synonyms of bewray

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All synonyms of bewray

Forms of bewray

third-person singular presentbewrays
present participlebewraying
past participlebewrayed
pastbewrayed

Origin of bewray

From Middle English bewraien, bewreyen, biwreyen, from Old English *bewrēġan, from Proto-Germanic *biwrōgijaną (“to speak about; tell on; inform of”). Cognate with Old Frisian biwrōgja (“to disclose, reveal”), Dutch bewroegen (“to blame; accuse”), Middle Low German bewrȫgen (“to accuse; complain about; punish”), Old High German biruogen (“to disclose, reveal”), Modern German berügen (“to defraud”).

Variant of beray.

Words formed from bewray

Words that rhyme with bewray

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bewray

What does bewray mean?
Bewray means to accuse; malign; speak evil of.
What is bewray in Urdu?
Bewray in Urdu is فاش کرنا, پٹ کھولنا. See Bewray meaning in Urdu.
How do you use bewray in a sentence?
Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy Liege, Whom thou obeyedst thirty and six years, And not bewray thy treason with a blush?
What part of speech is bewray?
Bewray is a verb.
How do you pronounce bewray?
Bewray is pronounced /bɪˈɹeɪ/.
What is the past tense of bewray?
The past tense of bewray is bewrayed.

Words near bewray in the dictionary

  1. bewrap
  2. bewrapped
  3. bewrapping
  4. bewraps
  5. bewrapt
  6. bewray
  7. bewrayed
  8. bewrayer
  9. bewrayers
  10. bewraying
  11. bewrayingly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bewray (page history and authors); bewray (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bewray.wav.

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