scold

B1 Topic:People & Society

Also spelled scole

US /ˈskoʊ̯ld/ UK /ˈskəʊ̯ld/ See IPA manual

Freq #10102

Meanings

1

verb
To tell someone angrily that they have done something wrong.

The mother scolded the child for running into the road.
2

noun
A person who is always complaining and finding fault with others.

Everyone avoided the old scold who criticised everything they did.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to tell someone angrily... rag

2 noun · a person who is always... nag shrew

More criticize

Word family

Forms scoldedscoldingscolds

Derived forms outscold

Etymology

The noun is from Middle English scold(e), skald(e), first attested in the 12th or 13th century (as scold, scolde, skolde, skald). The verb is from Middle English scolden, first attested in the late 1300s. Most dictionaries derive the verb from the noun and say the noun is probably from Old Norse skald (“poet”) (cognate with Icelandic skáld (“poet, scop”)), as skalds sometimes wrote insulting poems, though another view is that the Norse and English words are cognate to each other and to Old High German skeltan (whence Modern German schelten (“to scold, chide”)), Old Dutch skeldan (whence Modern…

scold Middle English scolden Middle English skald Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# scold

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈskoʊ̯ld/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈskəʊ̯ld/
**Frequency rank:** 10102

## Meanings
1. To tell someone angrily that they have done something wrong.
2. A person who is always complaining and finding fault with others.

## Examples
- The mother scolded the child for running into the road.
- Everyone avoided the old scold who criticised everything they did.

## Synonyms
- criticize

## Derived Forms
- outscold

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: scold
- Root: scolden
- Root: skald

## Etymology
The noun is from Middle English scold(e), skald(e), first attested in the 12th or 13th century (as scold, scolde, skolde, skald). The verb is from Middle English scolden, first attested in the late 1300s. Most dictionaries derive the verb from the noun and say the noun is probably from Old Norse skald (“poet”) (cognate with Icelandic skáld (“poet, scop”)), as skalds sometimes wrote insulting poems, though another view is that the Norse and English words are cognate to each other and to Old High German skeltan (whence Modern German schelten (“to scold, chide”)), Old Dutch skeldan (whence Modern…

## AI Etymology
The noun scold is from Middle English scold(e), skald(e), first attested in the 12th or 13th century (as scold, scolde, skolde, skald). The verb is from Middle English scolden, first attested in the late 1300s. Important forms in the word's history include Middle English scold, Middle English scolden, Old Norse skald. In current use it includes senses such as To tell someone angrily that they have done something wrong and A person who is always complaining and finding fault with others.

## Topics
- People & Society

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