as in to reprimand
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
he scolded the kids for not cleaning up the mess they had made in the kitchen
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Recent Examples of scold
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2022
Bozell, who plays a media scold on television, has written a book that despite its subtitle is neither dogmatic nor even thematic.
—Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 6 Jan. 2022
Aris Folley, The Hill, 18 July 2025
Minutes later, Boone was spotted appearing to scold first-base coach Travis Chapman for Chisholm getting thrown out.
—Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scold
Verb
When Roger Goodell suspended Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for at least one full season for betting on NFL games, the commissioner was very careful with the wording of his official scold.
—Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2022
Bozell, who plays a media scold on television, has written a book that despite its subtitle is neither dogmatic nor even thematic.
—Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 6 Jan. 2022
Noun
The skeptics scolded the administration for trying to make an end run around the normal appropriations process and complained the request didn’t have enough information, particularly when compared to the last rescissions request approved by Congress under former President George H. W. Bush.
—Aris Folley, The Hill, 18 July 2025
Minutes later, Boone was spotted appearing to scold first-base coach Travis Chapman for Chisholm getting thrown out.
—Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scold
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scold
Verb
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If the committee finds the charges to be malicious, the accusers may also be reprimanded, suspended, removed from office or expelled.—
Liam Rappleye,
Freep.com,
6 Aug. 2025
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In October, Redstone publicly criticized McMahon's decision to reprimand CBS News morning anchor Tony Dokoupil over an interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates.—
Alex Sherman,
CNBC,
19 May 2025
Verb
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Two hours later, she was heard lecturing the children.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
16 July 2025
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The single most on-the-nose sequence — though there are many — has an unrestrained Christopher Lloyd as a Holocaust survivor conveniently situated to lecture young Clay about the genocidal reality of his experience.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
15 July 2025
Noun
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Because critics of social justice tend to inhabit the exact professional milieu where social justice has been most thoroughly integrated with the endless pursuit of profit.—
Book Marks
August 7,
Literary Hub,
7 Aug. 2025
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Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson and Keke Palmer’s new action-comedy The Pickup is getting a harsh reception from Rotten Tomatoes critics.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Trump amps up his attacks on CEOs and other executives Trump has long used social media and his other public statements to cajole, criticize and praise companies and individual CEOs.—
Maria Aspan,
NPR,
14 Aug. 2025
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Some social media users have criticized the department’s reverence for the 1940s, noting the period predated the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed segregation, as well as other landmark legislation and Supreme Court decisions that were key to the civil rights era.—
Conor Murray,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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When Souleymane rehearses his account, in an early scene, Barry admonishes him for blandly reciting (and often bungling) the false facts he’s been given.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
6 Aug. 2025
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The decision to reassign Woolfe, the paper’s classical music critic, came less than a year after Woolfe was publicly admonished for his criticism by the head of the New York Metropolitan Opera, where Kahn is a regular presence.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Some residents blamed the city, which has owned these buildings for years, for allowing the structures to get run-down.—
Victoria Moorwood,
The Enquirer,
9 Aug. 2025
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At one point, her crankiness about being underappreciated for her domestic efforts is blamed, without irony, on her period.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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And then Conrad is berated by his own voice-over for always trying to take care of Belly.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
6 Aug. 2025
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Three years ago, at a dental clinic in Tyler, Texas, a forty-year-old man began to berate the nurses working on his dentures.—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
28 July 2025
Verb
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Still, some candidates and critics chastised Mamdani for his overseas absence after New York City’s deadliest shooting in decades.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
3 Aug. 2025
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And in the same hearing, several senators chastised lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell for earlier telling lawmakers that his agency was powerless under current state law to regulate, much less prohibit, the couriers that are presently active in 18 other states from doing business in Texas.—
John C. Moritz,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scold.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scold. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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