rebuke

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an act or expression of criticism and censure
  2. verb censure severely or angrily

Etymology

From Middle English rebuken, from Anglo-Norman rebuker (“to beat back, repel”), from re- + Old French *buker, buchier, buschier (“to strike, hack down, chop”), from busche (“wood”), from Vulgar Latin *busca (“wood, grove”), from Frankish *busk (“grove”), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“bush”); equivalent to re- + bush.

In classic literature

Synonyms

reproof, reproval, reprehension, reprimand

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