rebuked

verb

past tense of rebuke
1
as in admonished
to criticize (someone) so as to correct a fault the father was forced to rebuke his son for the spendthrift ways he had adopted since arriving at college

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in scolded
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings strongly rebuked the girl for playing with matches

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in reprimanded
to express public or formal disapproval of in a rare move, the state's supreme court rebuked the governor for trying to circumvent one of its recent rulings

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rebuked That notion was publicly rebuked by the Finnish federation on Wednesday. — Chris Johnston, New York Times, 3 June 2026 Judge Penney Azcarate rebuked Banfield in remarks. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 6 June 2026 Following the Iran vote, top Republicans were also rebuked on a measure to provide aid to Ukraine. — Claudia Grisales, NPR, 3 June 2026 But voters rebuked his vision for the future of Georgia’s Republican Party, writes Greg Bluestein. — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 17 June 2026 Cape Verde didn’t win, but its performance rebuked some of the criticisms that the expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 would weaken the tournament. — James Robson, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2026 Trump has long rebuked other NATO countries over their defense spending — and claimed last year’s pledge to collectively boost it as a major personal win — while more recently clashing with them for failing to back his war against Iran. — ABC News, 3 July 2026 The pope has fiercely criticized joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and rebuked world leaders for invoking religious language to rationalize war and voiced opposition to the administration’s immigration crackdown. — Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 10 June 2026 The unsealing of the disciplinary findings came one day after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sharply rebuked Krasner’s office for misleading courts, withholding evidence, and violating its duty of candor in multiple efforts to overturn murder convictions. — Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 19 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebuked
  1. admonished
  2. scolded
  3. reprimanded
  4. criticized
  5. lectured
  6. censured
  7. blamed
  8. condemned
Verb
  • The judge overseeing the wrongful death civil case that John O'Keefe's family filed against Karen Read admonished more than a dozen lawyers involved in the case on Wednesday.
    — Kristina Rex, CBS News, 1 July 2026
  • Beyond failing to qualify for the 2024 Euros, Barbarez admonished the association’s leadership for its 2022 decision to schedule friendlies with Russia soon after it was banned by FIFA and UEFA for invading Ukraine.
    — Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2026
Definition of admonished
Verb
  • Davis remembered once being scolded as a teenager by her mother after being caught speaking poorly of a classmate.
    — Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 23 June 2026
  • Well versed in what the lunar surface truly offers, Britt scolded a number of arty accounts of lunar territory promulgated by both NASA and commercial space ventures.
    — Leonard David, Space.com, 22 June 2026
Definition of scolded
Verb
  • Wimbledon fashion is also something that can get patrons in trouble, with Andy Samberg saying he was reprimanded for wearing black jeans in the Royal Box.
    — Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2026
  • Anne White was famously reprimanded for wearing a skin-tight unitard during her first-round match in June 1985.
    — Afia Asamoah, InStyle, 30 June 2026
Definition of reprimanded
Verb
  • The program posed a massive political problem for Mamdani, who’s been criticized by both his allies and opponents for his stance.
    — Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 30 June 2026
  • While state studies have criticized the state’s education governance model, voters have rejected at least four attempts dating back to 1928 to reform the position.
    — Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of criticized
Verb
  • Once, in anthropology class, my professor lectured on an insular island tribe that cackled whenever someone got hurt.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2026
  • Sharon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an Honorary Member of the UK Association of Jungian Analysts, and has taught and lectured at many academic institutions, Jungian organisations, retreat centres and cultural festivals around the world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
Definition of lectured
Verb
  • Polis was censured by the Colorado Democratic Party in May as a result of his decision letting Peters out of prison.
    — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • The two were censured and expelled from the International City/County Managers Association for ethics code violations.
    — Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026
Definition of censured
Verb
  • In Guadalajara, South Korea’s opening day win against Czech Republic was headlined by empty seats, which FIFA blamed on several fans watching the game from the stadium concourses.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 June 2026
  • Officials directly blamed the unrest on severe staffing shortages.
    — Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of blamed
Verb
  • Researchers sometimes refer to these influences as permission structures, or social cues that signal whether certain behaviors are likely to be rewarded, ignored or condemned.
    — Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • The author — who first came under fire in 2020 for making remarks widely condemned as transphobic — has denied being transphobic, defending her views as pro-feminist.
    — Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
Definition of condemned

Browse Nearby Words

rebuke
rebuked
rebuker
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rebuked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebuked. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on rebuked

Nglish: Translation of rebuked for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All