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The origin of the word browbeat is uncertain. It first appeared in late 16th century. Some people believe that maybe it came about because of the idea of intimidating somebody by furrowing the brows.
To browbeat is
- To intimidate, discourage, frighten, cajole or subjugate with threats or a domineering or overbearing manner.
- To be bossy towards.
- To depress or bear down with haughty, stern looks, or with arrogant speech and dogmatic assertions.
- To abash or disconcert by impudent or abusive words or looks.
- To bully.
- To cow through arrogant, scornful or contemptuous treatment.
Examples
- "The agency browbeat the witness until she got into a contradiction"
- "His neighbour always bullied him when he was young"
- "My great grandfather was not a man to be browbeaten."
- "India is no more capable of browbeating Pakistan"
- "He browbeats his employees to make them work faster by shouting at them."
- "Yeltsin's attempt to browbeat the seventh Congress of People's Deputies into submission backfired."
- "His friends tried to browbeat him, but he made his own decision"
- "Senator McCarthy browbeat witnesses he accused of subversion"
Synonyms
Ballyrag, boss around, bully, bullyrag, hector, intimidate, push around, strong-arm, swagger.
Related Terms
Badger, beat down, blarney, bludgeon, bluster, bluster out of, bounce, break, bulldoze, bully, bullyrag, cajole, castrate, clamp down on, coax, coerce, compel, cow, daunt, demoralize, despotize, discourage, dominate, domineer, domineer over, dragoon, enslave, frighten, grind, grind down, harass, hassle, hector, henpeck, hound, huff, intimidate, inveigle, keep down, keep under, lord it over, nag, oppress, overawe, overbear, overmaster, override, palaver, press heavy on, repress, ride over, ride roughshod over, subjugate, suppress, sweet-talk, systematically terrorize, terrorize, threaten, trample down, trample upon, tread down, tread upon, tyrannise, tyrannize, tyrannize over, unman, walk all over, walk over, weigh heavy on, wheedle.
Syllables, verbs & other forms
- SYLLABICATION: brow·beat
- FUNCTION: Transitive verb
- INFLECTED FORMS (as verb): brow·beat(infinitive, simple past & past participle), brow·beat·en (past participle), brow·beat·ing (present participle), brow·beats (3rd person present singular)
- OTHER FORMS: brow·beat·er (Noun)
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