Word.ws English Dictionary

upbraiding

upbraiding is the present participle and gerund of upbraid.

Noun

upbraiding (plural upbraidings)

  1. An instance of severe criticism or rebuke.
    • I wish to bring comfort and avoid upbraidings: for your own conscience will reproach you more than the voice of a preacher.1798, Elizabeth Inchbald, Lovers' Vows, Act IV, Scene I
  2. (obsolete) An instance of vomiting
    • The seed wasteth and consumeth winde, and is good against belchings and upbraidings of the stomach, alaieth gripings of the belly, provoketh urine gently, maketh abundance of milke, and stirreth up bodily lust: it staieth the laske, and also the white flux in women1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of Anise”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 880

Meaning of upbraid

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...
  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]...
  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.

See all 7 meanings of upbraid

Adjective

upbraiding (comparative more upbraiding, superlative most upbraiding)

  1. Reproachful; chiding; censorious.

Forms of upbraiding

Adjective
comparativemore upbraiding
superlativemost upbraiding
Noun
pluralupbraidings

Words formed from upbraiding

Questions about upbraiding

What does upbraiding mean?
Upbraiding means reproachful; chiding; censorious.
What is upbraiding the present participle and gerund of?
Upbraiding is the present participle and gerund of upbraid.
What part of speech is upbraiding?
Upbraiding can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near upbraiding in the dictionary

  1. upbraided
  2. upbraider
  3. upbraiders
  4. upbraidest
  5. upbraideth
  6. upbraiding
  7. upbraidingly
  8. upbraidings
  9. upbraids
  10. upbray
  11. upbrayed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: upbraiding (page history and authors); upbraid (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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Cite this entry: “upbraiding.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/upbraiding. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.