as in to scold
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
dressed down for boorish behavior at the dance
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Recent Examples of dress down
Dylan Efron dressed down to set the record straight.
—
Raven Brunner, People.com, 6 Mar. 2025
Young became the most vocal of many congressional critics to publicly dress down the Coast Guard for resisting Chouest’s offering of the Aiviq.
—Mckenzie Funk, ProPublica, 23 Jan. 2025
This was heightened by the extraordinary dressing down Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave Zelensky in his recent Oval Office visit and an apparent rapprochement between the White House and the Kremlin.
—William Lambers, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2025
In This Week’s Issue REVERSE-NIXON Might Donald Trump’s public dressing down of Volodymyr Zelensky have been intended to repair relations with Russia and put China on their back foot, Richard Nixon–style?
—airmail.news, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dress down
Raven Brunner, People.com, 6 Mar. 2025
Young became the most vocal of many congressional critics to publicly dress down the Coast Guard for resisting Chouest’s offering of the Aiviq.
—Mckenzie Funk, ProPublica, 23 Jan. 2025
This was heightened by the extraordinary dressing down Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave Zelensky in his recent Oval Office visit and an apparent rapprochement between the White House and the Kremlin.
—William Lambers, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2025
In This Week’s Issue REVERSE-NIXON Might Donald Trump’s public dressing down of Volodymyr Zelensky have been intended to repair relations with Russia and put China on their back foot, Richard Nixon–style?
—airmail.news, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dress down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dress down
Verb
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Back in the fortress, the Man of Steel scolds Krypto for wrecking the joint while he was gone.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
1 Apr. 2025
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After the kid was saved, Beltran scolded the resident, reminding her not to bring her personal life into the ER — or her attending’s.—
Charlie Mason,
TVLine,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Quilting group hosts lecture, workshop El Camino Quilt Guild meets at 9:30 a.m. April 8 at El Corazon Senior Center, 3302 Senior Center Drive.—
Linda Mcintosh,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Apr. 2025
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But the club’s members didn’t lecture or advocate until 20 years after its 1876 founding.—
Ron Grossman,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Mickey Rourke was reprimanded on Celebrity Big Brother UK after using a homophobic slur toward fellow housemate JoJo Siwa.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
9 Apr. 2025
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The mom comes back and then reprimanded me for not supporting her baby’s head.—
Virginia Chamlee,
People.com,
25 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But Robbins' life was soon upended when he got called down to the principal’s office at Harriton High School and accused of selling drugs.—
Christine Pelisek,
People.com,
24 Mar. 2025
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Four security guards were called down, and the employee ultimately left.—
Julia Shapero,
The Hill,
10 Mar. 2025
Verb
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They are blamed for a mysterious illness that’s starting to spread – said to be passed through a single gaze, when one man falls in love with another.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
10 Apr. 2025
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Last month, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Trump's tariffs were partly to blame for price increases that had taken place in February.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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But to chew out his boss--Edwin Stanton, secretary of war--would be more than just getting close to the line of insubordination.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
12 Feb. 2025
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There’s also a story line of Harper being chewed out by Petra when Petra finds out how Harper actually got the information necessary to short Pierpoint, i.e., illegally.—
Nina Li Coomes,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2024
Verb
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In a video posted to X, Brand thanked his fans for messages of support, then criticized the British government and legal system before addressing the charges directly.—
Emily Trainham,
FOXNews.com,
4 Apr. 2025
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Critics of executive overreach have long criticized the Office of Legal Counsel as too permissive.—
Charlie Savage,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dress down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dress%20down. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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