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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

upbraid

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

Arts, Literature, Language Courses, Education

4.31.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2023

⏱️ 2 minutes

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Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2023 is:

upbraid • \up-BRAYD\  • verb

To upbraid someone is to speak to them in an angry or critical way in response to something they have done wrong—in other words, to scold them.

// The teacher upbraided the class after discovering the chalkboard erasers had been clapped all over the walls.

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Examples:

“Shot mostly in black-and-white, with amusing bits of animation included (the scene in which Troyal is upbraided for ordering a steak well-done is a quirky comedic highlight), this movie gets better the more it strays from its real-life models and into hazy hallucinatory American weirdness.” — Glenn Kenny, The New York Times, 7 Apr. 2023

Did you know?

First things first: do not confuse upbraid with topknot lest you be upbraided for it. Topknot is a noun referring to a hairstyle, while upbraid is a verb (and an ancient one at that) meaning “to criticize or scold severely.” However, it may soothe your pride to know that the braid in upbraid likely comes from the same source as our hirsutal verb braid, meaning “to do up (the hair) by interweaving three or more strands.” That source is the Old English word bregdan, which could be used to mean “to snatch,” “to move suddenly,” or “to plait,” i.e. “braid.” The Old English verb ūpbregdan is probably a combination of this bregdan with ūp, meaning “up.” If the connection between moving suddenly upward at someone and berating them seems obscure, you might consider upbraid to be a more formal counterpart of the expression “to get/be in someone’s face.”



Transcript

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0:00.0

It's Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for September 3rd.

0:11.4

Today's word is Ubrade, spelled U-P-B-R-A-I-D. Ubrade is a verb.

0:18.0

To Ubrade someone is to speak to them in an angry or critical way in response to something

0:22.8

they have done wrong.

0:24.2

In other words, to scold them.

0:26.9

Here's the word used in a sentence from The New York Times by Glenn Kenney.

0:31.1

Shot mostly in black and white with amusing bits of animation included.

0:35.5

The scene in which Troyal is abraded for ordering a stake well done is a quirky comedic highlight.

0:42.8

This movie gets better the more it strays from its real-life models and into hazy hallucinatory

0:48.4

American weirdness.

0:50.7

First things first.

0:52.6

Don't confuse the word abrade with the word top-not.

0:56.0

Lest you be upgraded for it.

0:58.4

Top-not is a noun referring to a hairstyle while Ubrade is a verb and an ancient one at

1:04.1

that, meaning to criticize or scold severely.

1:07.7

However, it may soothe your pride to know that the braid and Ubrade likely comes from

1:13.2

the same source as our here-suttle verb braid, meaning to do up the hair by interweaving

1:19.4

three or more strands.

1:21.5

That source is the old English word brecdon, which could be used to mean to snatch, to move

1:26.9

suddenly or to plate, that is, to braid.

1:30.9

The old English verb up brecdon is probably a combination of this brecdon with up, meaning

1:37.0

up.

...

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