Word.ws English Dictionary

upbraid

/ˌʌpˈbɹeɪd/

upbraid verb: to criticize severely.

Verb

upbraid (third-person singular simple present upbraids, present participle upbraiding, simple past and past participle upbraided)

  1. (transitive) To criticize severely.
    • How much doth thy kindness upbraid my wickedness!a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
    • Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 11:20
  2. (archaic, transitive, and formerly of before the object) To charge with something wrong or disgraceful; to reproach
    • Yet do not upbraid us our distress.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 16:14
  3. (obsolete) To treat with contempt.
    • There also was that mighty monarch laid, Low under all, yet above all in pride; That name of native fire did foul upbraid, And would, as Ammon's son, be magnify'd.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  4. (obsolete) To object or urge as a matter of reproach
    • Those that have been bred together, are more apt to envy their equals when raised: for it doth upbraid unto them their own fortunes, and pointeth at them.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Envy”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    cast up
  5. (archaic, intransitive) To utter upbraidings.
  6. (Northern England, UK, archaic, dialectal) To vomit; retch.

Noun

upbraid (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) The act of reproaching; scorn; disdain.
    • He was ymet; who with uncomely Shame
      Gan him salute, and foul upbraid with faulty Blame.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

upbraid meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

upbraid in Tamil

கடிந்து கொள்

upbraid in Urdu

پھٹکارنا

upbraid in Bengali

তীব্র তিরস্কার করা

upbraid in Malayalam

അധിക്ഷേപിക്കുക, ശാസിക്കുക, വിമർശിക്കുക, കുറ്റപ്പെടുത്തുക
More languagesFewer languages
upbraid in Kannada
ಬಯ್ಯು, ಅದಪು, ತರಾಟೆಗೆ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳು, ತಪ್ಪನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿ ತೋರಿಸು

Examples of upbraid in a sentence

  • Indeed, on several occasions, the Bishop of Lincoln was forced to upbraid both abbess and nuns for unseemliness in dress and behaviour.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 174:
  • Dalio had no qualms about upbraiding a junior employee in front of me and dozens of his colleagues.2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:
  • Trump and Vice President JD Vance upbraided the president of Ukraine in the Oval Office last Friday, then cut off military aid to the U.S. ally.2025 March 5, Cameron Joseph, “After wild six weeks, Trump tells Congress ‘We are just getting started’”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

Synonyms of upbraid

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of upbraid

Forms of upbraid

third-person singular presentupbraids
present participleupbraiding
past participleupbraided
pastupbraided

Origin of upbraid

From Middle English upbreiden, from Old English upbreġdan, equivalent to up- + braid. Compare English umbraid (“to upbraid”), Icelandic bregða (“to draw, brandish, braid, deviate from, change, break off, upbraid”). See up, and braid (transitive).

Words formed from upbraid

Words that rhyme with upbraid

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about upbraid

What does upbraid mean?
Upbraid means to criticize severely.
What is upbraid in Tamil?
Upbraid in Tamil is கடிந்து கொள். See Upbraid meaning in Tamil.
How do you use upbraid in a sentence?
Indeed, on several occasions, the Bishop of Lincoln was forced to upbraid both abbess and nuns for unseemliness in dress and behaviour.
What part of speech is upbraid?
Upbraid can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce upbraid?
Upbraid is pronounced /ˌʌpˈbɹeɪd/.
What is the past tense of upbraid?
The past tense of upbraid is upbraided.

Words near upbraid in the dictionary

  1. upbows
  2. upbrace
  3. upbraced
  4. upbraces
  5. upbracing
  6. upbraid
  7. upbraided
  8. upbraider
  9. upbraiders
  10. upbraidest
  11. upbraideth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: upbraid (page history and authors); upbraid (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); upbraid (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); upbraid (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); upbraid (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); upbraid (Kannada 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: en-us-upbraid.ogg.

Cite this entry: “upbraid.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/upbraid. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.