upbraid

English

WOTD – 7 March 2007

Etymology

From Middle English upbreyden, 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).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʌpˈbɹeɪd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪd

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To criticize severely.

   Synonyms: exprobrate, blame, censure, condemn, reproach; see also Thesaurus:criticize

   • 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, London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

     How much doth thy kindness upbraid my wickedness!

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 11:20:

     Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:

   • 2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker‎, →ISSN:

     Dalio had no qualms about upbraiding a junior employee in front of me and dozens of his colleagues.

2. (transitive, archaic, followed by with or for, and formerly of before the object) To charge with something wrong or disgraceful; to reproach
   • 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] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     Yet do not upbraid us our distress.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 16:14:

     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.

3. (obsolete) To treat with contempt.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     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.

4. (obsolete, followed by "to" before the object) To object or urge as a matter of reproach

   Synonym: cast up

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Envy”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     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.

5. (archaic, intransitive) To utter upbraidings.
6. (UK dialectal, Northern England, archaic) To vomit; retch.

Translations

to criticise

Bulgarian: укорявам (bg) (ukorjavam), порицавам (bg) (poricavam) Finnish: sättiä (fi), soimata (fi) Maori: toheriri Ukrainian: докоряти (dokorjaty), дорікати (dorikaty)

to charge with something wrong or disgraceful

Dutch: vermanen (nl) Latin: opprobrō Polish: karcić / skarcić Portuguese: reprovar (pt) Russian: укоря́ть (ru) n (ukorjátʹ)

to reprove

Bulgarian: упреквам (bg) (uprekvam) French: gronder (fr), reprendre (fr), reprocher (fr), réprimander (fr), sermonner (fr) Greek: Ancient: ὀνειδίζω (oneidízō) Portuguese: reprovar (pt)

Noun

upbraid (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) The act of reproaching; scorn; disdain.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     He was ymet; who with uncomely Shame
     Gan him salute, and foul upbraid with faulty Blame.

Translations

The act of reproaching

Polish: skarcenie n Russian: укори́зна (ru) f (ukorízna), уко́р (ru) m (ukór)