scold
(skōld)
[Middle English scolden, to be abusive, from scolde, an abusive person, probably of Scandinavian origin.]
verb: scold·ed, scold·ing, scolds.
transitive verb
- To reprimand or criticize harshly and usually angrily.
intransitive verb
- To reprove or criticize openly.
noun
- One who persistently nags or criticizes: “As a critic gets older, he or she usually grows more tetchy and . . . may even become a big-league scold” (James Wolcott)
derivatives
- scold́er
- noun
- scold́ing·ly
- adverb
synonyms:
scold, upbraid, berate, revile, vituperate, rail3 These verbs mean to reprimand or criticize angrily or vehemently. Scold implies reproof: parents who scolded their child for being rude. Upbraid generally suggests a well-founded reproach, as one leveled by an authority: upbraided by the supervisor for habitual tardiness. Berate suggests scolding or rebuking at length: an angry customer who berated the clerk. Revile and vituperate especially stress the use of disparaging or abusive language: critics who reviled the novel as unsophisticated pulp. “The incensed priests . . . continued to raise their voices, vituperating each other in bad Latin” (Sir Walter Scott) Rail suggests bitter, harsh, or denunciatory language: “Why rail at fate? The mischief is your own” (John Greenleaf Whittier)
