berate

berate
be‧rate /bɪˈreɪt/ verb [transitive + for]formal to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ reprimand formal to tell someone that they have done something wrong or illegal and are being punished for it – used especially in official contexts: The police officers were officially reprimanded for their behaviour. | The Swiss authorities severely reprimanded the banks for accepting $660million from the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. | Debra remembered as a very young child being reprimanded by her father.
   ▪ scold formal if a parent, teacher, or other adult scolds a child, they talk to them angrily because they have done something wrong. Scold sounds rather formal and old-fashioned. In everyday English people usually say tell somebody off: I dreaded the thought of going home and being scolded by my father.
   ▪ tell somebody off to talk angrily to someone because they have done something wrong. Tell somebody off is more common in British English than American English: Dad told me off for getting home late.
   ▪ give somebody a talking-to informal to talk angrily to a child because they have done something wrong: The boy was giving a good talking-to and sent home.
   ▪ lecture to talk angrily to someone for a long time about something they have done wrong, especially in a way that they think is not necessary or fair: Stop lecturing me, will you! | He began to lecture her about her duties as a citizen.
   ▪ rebuke formal to tell someone that they should not have done something: She rebuked him for being late. | Sheerman rebuked his colleague for suggesting that he was too stupid to understand what he was saying.
   ▪ reproach formal to talk to someone in a way that shows you are disappointed at what they have done. Reproach sounds much gentler than criticizing someone or reprimanding them: He felt he had to reproach his friend for his excessive drinking.
   ▪ berate formal to publicly criticize someone for a long time, in a way that shows you strongly disapprove of what they have done: She berated the paper for its 'misleading front-page story.' | Kennedy berated the Eisenhower administration and its vice president Richard Nixon, during the 1960 campaign.