berate
/bɪˈɹeɪt/
"berate" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“berate” is an uncommon English word, ranked #56,614 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #56,614
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To chide or scold vehemently.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | berate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɪˈɹeɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #56,614 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “berate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for berate is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɪˈɹeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #56,614 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To chide or scold vehemently.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for berate, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From be- + rate (“to scold, upbraid”). The correct English form is berate, spelled B-E-R-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To chide or scold vehemently.
Etymology
From be- + rate (“to scold, upbraid”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “berate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-R-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɪˈɹeɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.