rebuke

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 buska (“wood, grove”), from Frankish *busc, *busk (“grove”), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“bush”); equivalent to re- +‎ bush.

• IPA^(key): /ɹiˈbjuːk/, /ɹɪˈbjuːk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

rebuke (plural rebukes)

1. A harsh criticism.
   • 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track

     There was the sternness of an old-fashioned Tour patron in his rebuke to the young Frenchman Pierre Rolland, the only one to ride away from the peloton and seize the opportunity for a lone attack before being absorbed back into the bunch, where he was received with coolness.

• reproach, reproof, reproval, reprehension, reprimand, admonition

rebuke (third-person singular simple present rebukes, present participle rebuking, simple past and past participle rebuked)

1. To criticise harshly; to reprove.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• reprimand, reproach, reprove, reprehend, admonish, criticise, berate, scold
• See also Thesaurus:criticize

• Kueber