scold /skəʊld $ skoʊld/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language ]
to angrily criticize someone, especially a child, about something they have done SYN 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.
• • •
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say tell someone off rather than scold someone:
▪
She told us off for making a mess.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ 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.