Word
Definition
v. to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong. You usually do this to a child or someone you are in charge of to show you are unhappy with their behavior.
v. to reprimand or rebuke someone harshly for a perceived fault or wrongdoing. Typically describes a superior addressing a subordinate or a parent addressing a child.
Examples
“The teacher had to scold the students for being too loud.”
“He knew his mother would scold him if he came home with mud on his new shoes.”
“While the manager felt the need to scold the team for the oversight, she tempered her criticism with constructive advice to ensure the error would not be repeated.”
Examples
simple
“The teacher had to scold the students for being too loud.”
contextual
“He knew his mother would scold him if he came home with mud on his new shoes.”
complex
“While the manager felt the need to scold the team for the oversight, she tempered her criticism with constructive advice to ensure the error would not be repeated.”
Collocations
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “scold” in context.
Verb
01. scold about behavior
“He scolded his son about his rude behavior at dinner.”
verb + prep + noun
02. scold for lying
“Her mother scolded her for lying about her homework.”
verb + prep + gerund
03. scold for misbehaving
“The teacher scolded the boys for misbehaving in the hallway.”
verb + prep + gerund
Adjective
04. scold angrily
“The teacher scolded the class angrily for talking during the test.”
verb + adverb
05. scold harshly
“His father scolded him harshly when he broke the window.”
verb + adverb
06. scold publicly
“Managers should never scold employees publicly in front of clients.”
verb + adverb
07. scold severely
“The coach scolded the team severely for arriving late to practice.”
verb + adverb
Noun
08. scold child
“She hates to scold a child who is already upset.”
verb + noun
09. scold employee
“A good manager will not scold an employee over a small mistake.”
verb + noun
10. be scolded by the teacher
“He was scolded by the teacher for forgetting his homework again.”
11. get scolded for misbehaving
“The children got scolded for misbehaving during the wedding.”
12. scold a child in public
“You should never scold a child in public; talk to them privately.”
Usage
The verb is transitive and takes a direct object, usually a person.
Real-World Examples
“I laugh with him, and other times I scold him," she told the BBC.” “Nikolau scolds Beerkus that "you always do this" and another time complains he hasn't taken a good photo of her legs yet.” “China's cyber watchdog has scolded Ant Financial, Alibaba's payment affiliate, for compromising user privacy after many users of its Alipay service were automatically enrolled in its credit scoring system.” “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission scolded the self-policing brokerage industry group FINRA on Thursday for allegedly doctoring internal documents before handing them over to examiners.” Etymology
The noun arrives in the 12th or 13th century as the Middle English scold, scolde, skolde, or skald. The verb scolden followed in the late 1300s, likely derived from the noun. While some scholars view the English and Norse terms as cognates, most dictionaries link the noun to the Old Norse skald, a word for a poet.
The connection to poetry was not a matter of lyricism, but of professional utility. A skald was a poet, and a poet was a person who occasionally wrote insulting verses. The transition from a composer of skaldic insults to a common scold suggests a certain decline in the formality of the grievance. The term shares a lineage with the Old High German skeltan, which produced the Modern German schelten, and the Old Dutch skeldan, leading to the Modern Dutch schelden. All these variants are inherited from the Proto-Germanic *skeldaną.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word family
VERB
NOUN
Related words
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
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「日本語」 data: JMdict (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0