Other forms: rebuked, rebukes, rebuking
To rebuke is to tell somebody sharply that they were wrong. Rebuke him publicly, a sharp rebuke, rebuked by the court.
It is formal and it usually comes from somebody with standing — a judge, a regulator, a parent — which is what makes a rebuke different from a complaint. As a noun it is the reprimand itself. Note that the Anglo-Norman verb meant to beat back, from a word for wood, so a rebuke was once a blow.
1verbrebukeTo tell somebody sharply that they were wrong.
“The teacher rebuked him for talking during the exam.”
2nounreprimandA sharp reprimand.
“The manager's sharp rebuke left the young waiter close to tears.”
rebuke is a reprimand.
Anglo-Norman rebuker means to beat back, from re- plus a verb meaning to strike, from busche, wood.
Proto-Germanic
*buskaz — bush
Frankish
*busk — grove
Vulgar Latin
*busca — wood, grove
Old French
*buker
Middle English
rebuken
English, today
rebuke
Built from
From Middle English rebuken, from Anglo-Norman rebuker (“to beat back, repel”), from re- + Old French buker, buchier, buschier (“to strike, hack down, chop”), from busche (“wood”), from Vulgar Latin busca (“wood, grove”), from Frankish busk (“grove”), from Proto-Germanic buskaz (“bush”); equivalent to re- + bush.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA