scold[verb]Synonyms:- reprimand, berate, castigate, censure, find fault with, give (someone) a dressing-down, lecture, rebuke, reproach, reprove, tell off
(informal), tick off
(informal), upbraid
[noun]Synonyms:- nag, shrew, termagant
(rare)
Related Idioms: jump down one's throat, rake over the coals, read one the riot act, walk into
Related Words: blame,
censure,
criticize,
denounce,
reprehend,
reprobate,
admonish,
chide,
rebuke,
reprimand,
reproach,
reprove,
execrate,
objurate,
brace,
grill,
harass,
hound,
blister,
excoriate
English Thesaurus: reprimand, scold, tell somebody off, give somebody a talking-to, lecture, ... [TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
scold /skəʊld $ skoʊld/
verb [transitive][
Date: 1200-1300;
Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language]
to angrily criticize someone, especially a child, about something they have done
Synonym : tell off:
Do not scold the puppy, but simply and firmly say ‘no.’scold somebody for (doing) something Her father scolded her for upsetting her mother.—scolding noun [uncountable and countable]:
I got a scolding from my teacher.
REGISTERIn everyday English, people usually say
tell someone
off rather than
scold someone:
She told us off for making a mess. [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
reprimand formal to tell someone that they have done something wrong or illegal and are being punished for it – used especially in official contexts:
The police officers were officially reprimanded for their behaviour. The Swiss authorities severely reprimanded the banks for accepting $660million from the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Debra remembered as a very young child being reprimanded by her father.scold formal if a parent, teacher, or other adult scolds a child, they talk to them angrily because they have done something wrong.
Scold sounds rather formal and old-fashioned. In everyday English people usually say
tell somebody off:
I dreaded the thought of going home and being scolded by my father.tell somebody off to talk angrily to someone because they have done something wrong.
Tell somebody off is more common in British English than American English:
Dad told me off for getting home late.give somebody a talking-to informal to talk angrily to a child because they have done something wrong:
The boy was giving a good talking-to and sent home.lecture to talk angrily to someone for a long time about something they have done wrong, especially in a way that they think is not necessary or fair:
Stop lecturing me, will you! He began to lecture her about her duties as a citizen.rebuke formal to tell someone that they should not have done something:
She rebuked him for being late. Sheerman rebuked his colleague for suggesting that he was too stupid to understand what he was saying.reproach formal to talk to someone in a way that shows you are disappointed at what they have done.
Reproach sounds much gentler than criticizing someone or reprimanding them:
He felt he had to reproach his friend for his excessive drinking.berate formal to publicly criticize someone for a long time, in a way that shows you strongly disapprove of what they have done:
She berated the paper for its 'misleading front-page story.' Kennedy berated the Eisenhower administration and its vice president Richard Nixon, during the 1960 campaign. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲