browbeat C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes US /ˈbraʊbit/ UK /ˈbraʊbiːt/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 verb to intimidate or bully someone with stern or overbearing words The lawyer tried to browbeat the witness into changing her story. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 verb · to intimidate or bully... intimidatebullycowbadgerhectordomineercoerce ↔ Opposites encouragecoaxsupportpersuade Word family Derived forms browbeatenbrowbeating Related forms browbeat Etymology AI details A compound of brow + beat, originally meaning 'to bear down with stern looks'; from Old English brū ('brow') + bēatan ('to beat'). brū Old English bēatan Old English View etymology graph -> Topics Actions & Processes External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # browbeat **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /ˈbraʊbit/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈbraʊbiːt/ ## Meanings 1. to intimidate or bully someone with stern or overbearing words ## Examples - The lawyer tried to browbeat the witness into changing her story. ## Synonyms - intimidate - bully - cow - badger - hector - domineer - coerce ## Antonyms - encourage - coax - support - persuade ## Derived Forms - browbeaten - browbeating ## Related Forms - brow - beat ## Roots and Affixes - Root: brū - Root: bēatan ## Etymology A compound of brow + beat, originally meaning 'to bear down with stern looks'; from Old English brū ('brow') + bēatan ('to beat'). ## AI Etymology Browbeat is a compound of brow + beat, originally meaning 'to bear down with stern looks'; from Old English brū ('brow') + bēatan ('to beat'). The historical trail runs through brū in Old English and bēatan in Old English. Morphologically, browbeat is transparent: it is a compound of brow + beat, originally meaning 'to bear down with stern looks'. Used as a verb, browbeat now means "intimidate or bully someone with stern or overbearing words", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as browbeaten and browbeating and related forms such as brow and beat. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct. ## Topics - Actions & Processes markdown