ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Dressing-down

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Dressing-down is a noun meaning (idiomatic) A reprimand or rarely, a thrashing.

Meaning

(idiomatic) A reprimand or rarely, a thrashing.

Example Sentences

"We must all bow to you, and try to get a favorable word, must we? This man shall have a leg up, and this man shall have a dressing down!"
Just ask Gen. Yevgeny I. Ignatov, a former mayor of Torzhok, who stepped down two years ago after a dressing-down from the regional governor.
When the blacksmith saw what Babo had done to his mother, he caught him by the collar, and fell to giving him such a dressing down as never man had before.
"I'll give him a dressing down, see if I don't." Mrs. Mudge's eyes snapped viciously, and she clutched the relics of the broom with a degree of energy which rendered it uncertain what sort of a dressing down she intended for her husband.

Word Forms

Synonyms for dressing-down

Depending on context, synonyms include handbagging, stricture, hiding, animadversion, criticism, critique.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include whipping, roasting, lambasting, shoeing, slapdown, dusting.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.