Dic: Synonyms: admonish, reprove, rebuke, reprimand, reproach

These verbs mean to correct or caution critically.

• Admonish implies the giving of advice or a warning in order to rectify or avoid something:
  ... "A gallows erected on an eminence admonished the offenders of the fate that awaited them" (William Hickling Prescott). 
• Reprove usually suggests gentle criticism and constructive intent:
  ... With a quick look, the teacher reproved the child for whispering in class. 
• Rebuke and reprimand both refer to sharp, often angry criticism:
  ... "Some of the most heated criticism . . . has come from the Justice Department, which rarely rebukes other agencies in public" (Howard Kurtz).
  ... "A committee at [the university] asked its president to reprimand a scientist who tested gene-altered bacteria on trees" (New York Times). 
• Reproach usually refers to regretful or unhappy criticism arising from a sense of disappointment:
  ... "Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach" (Samuel Johnson).

... The American Heritage