scold
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Censure severely or angrily.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skohldIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskoʊld
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
ambitransitive
Censure severely or angrily
“The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car.”
ambitransitive
To rebuke angrily.
ornithology
Of birds, to make harsh vocalisations in aggression.
Misconstruction of scald.
noun
A person who habitually scolds, in particular a troublesome and angry woman.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
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More ways to use scold
- “The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car.”verb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Someone (especially a woman) who annoys people by constantly finding fault.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: person who habitually scolds
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.