scold

scold  (skld)

v. scold·ed, scold·ing, scolds

v.tr.

To reprimand or criticize harshly and usually angrily.

v.intr.

To reprove or criticize openly.

n.

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.

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[Middle English scolden, to be abusive, from scolde, an abusive person, probably of Scandinavian origin; see sek^w-³ in Indo-European roots.]

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scolder n.

scolding·ly adv.

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.

Word History: A scold is not usually a poet and a scolding rarely sounds like poetry to the one being scolded, but it seems that the word scold has a poetic background. It is probable that scold, first recorded in Middle English in a work probably composed around 1150, has a Scandinavian source related to the Old Icelandic word skld, "poet." Middle English scolde may in fact mean "a minstrel," but of that we are not sure. However, its Middle English meanings, "a ribald abusive person" and "a shrewish chiding woman," may be related to skld, as shown by the senses of some of the Old Icelandic words derived from skld. Old Icelandic skldskapr, for example, meant "poetry" in a good sense but also "a libel in verse," while skld-stöng meant "a pole with imprecations or charms scratched on it." It would seem that libelous cursing verse was a noted part of at least some poets' productions and that this association with poets passed firmly along with the Scandinavian borrowing into English.

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scold

Verb

1. to find fault with or rebuke (a person) harshly

2. Old-fashioned to use harsh or abusive language

Noun

a person, esp. a woman, who constantly scolds [from Old Norse skāld]

scolding n

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	scold - someone (especially a woman) who annoys people by constantly finding fault common scold, nag, nagger, scolder disagreeable person, unpleasant person - a person who is not pleasant or agreeable harridan - a scolding (even vicious) old woman
Verb	1.	scold - censure severely or angrily; "The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car"; "The deputy ragged the Prime Minister"; "The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup" call on the carpet, chew out, chew up, chide, dress down, have words, bawl out, berate, rebuke, reproof, take to task, reprimand, call down, lambast, lambaste, lecture, remonstrate, trounce, jaw, rag castigate, chasten, chastise, objurgate, correct - censure severely; "She chastised him for his insensitive remarks" brush down, tell off - reprimand; "She told the misbehaving student off" criticise, criticize, pick apart, knock - find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free"
	2.	scold - show one's unhappiness or critical attitude; "He scolded about anything that he thought was wrong"; "We grumbled about the increased work load" grouch, grumble kvetch, plain, quetch, complain, sound off, kick - express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness; "My mother complains all day"; "She has a lot to kick about"

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scold

verb reprimand, censure, rebuke, rate, blame, lecture, carpet (informal) slate (informal), chiefly Brit. nag, go on at, reproach, berate, tick off (informal) castigate, chide, tear into (informal) tell off (informal) find fault with, remonstrate with, bring (someone) to book, take (someone) to task, read the riot act, reprove, upbraid, bawl out (informal) give (someone) a talking-to (informal) haul (someone) over the coals (informal) chew out U.S., Canad. (informal) give (someone) a dressing-down, tear (someone) off a strip Brit. (informal) give a rocket Brit., N.Z. (informal) vituperate, give (someone) a row, have (someone) on the carpet (informal) << OPPOSITE praise

Translations

scold [skəuld] vt → regañar

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scold [skəuld] vt → gronder, attraper, réprimander

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scold [skəuld] vt → ausschimpfen

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scold [skəuld] vt → rimproverare