Synonyms for remonstrate

26 synonyms
1 meaning

verb

Most common

scold berate admonish chide argue protest demur expostulate

All synonyms

Verb

1. Admonish

admonish, chide, scold, berate, complain, reprimand, lambast UK, lamblast US, rebuke, call down, trounce, take to task, have words, dress down, chew up, bawl out, lecture, rag, jaw, chew out slang US

Other

argue, protest, demur, point out, object, expostulate, recalcitrate

Definitions

v. 1
To object with in critical fashion; to express disapproval (with, against).

Related words

Word family: remonstrance remonstration remonstrative

Forms

Past participle: remonstrated
e.g. remonstrated → admonished, chid, scolded, berated…

Choose the right word

Remonstrate, Expostulate, Remonstrate With or Censure?

To expostulate or remonstrate with is to mingle reasoning and appeal with censure in the hope of winning one from his evil way, expostulate being the gentler, remonstrate the severer word.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

scold I cannot scold Taninna. She's still a little girl.
berate If you berate me like that again, I will quit.
admonish No words were able to admonish him.
argue Mennad and Baya started to argue a whole lot more.
protest Protest takes ever more creative forms in Tatoeba.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
remonstrate		steady
scold		rising
berate		rising
admonish		steady
chide		rising
argue		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: jaw¹, rag¹
5 letters: argue², scold¹, chide¹, demur²
6 letters: object², rebuke², berate²
7 letters: protest², lecture², trounce¹, lambast
8 letters: complain², admonish³, lamblast
9 letters: reprimand³
11 letters: expostulate
12 letters: recalcitrate

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (argue² = 2 syllables).