How to Use scold in a Sentence

scold

1 of 2 verb
  • Before the agents go home, TJ has to scold the teams who quit, per his contract.
    Kyndall Cunningham, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2021
  • If reporters cross over the line too far, Tierney pulls them aside to scold them.
    cleveland, 2 May 2020
  • What is a disgrace is a guest who presumes to scold, much less kick, the other guests.
    Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2022
  • Berrera-Kearns chimed in to scold Naessens on his usage of the word — while using it herself.
    Jessica Wang, EW.com, 30 Dec. 2021
  • Jill asks to speak with her alone after the ladies scold her and crack a few jokes about her Care Bears attire.
    Kyesha Jennings, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2021
  • His sous chef scolded him for not informing the kitchen staff.
    Justin Ray, Robb Report, 22 June 2023
  • Dear Miss Manners: I was scolded by a co-worker for putting trash into the trash bin!
    Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2023
  • When Hunter makes his way back to the holding pen, James, Tre, and Aaron scold him for his selfish behavior.
    Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 6 July 2021
  • But they are supposed to respect their guests' judgment and not scold them in advance.
    Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 4 July 2022
  • No doubt many grandmothers will want to scold us, but the truth is, soap isn't going to destroy your cast iron pans.
    Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Instead of pushing your luck and waiting for robo-choppers to come scold you, do the right thing and stay inside.
    Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 17 Mar. 2020
  • Meanwhile, Tom pulls Greg into the bathroom to scold him for leaking the info.
    Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 30 May 2023
  • Goldberg then paused to scold Teta for an unknown action.
    Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 24 May 2023
  • When a chatbot spits out off-base replies, ask follow-up questions or scold it to do better.
    Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Though Blake sometimes has to scold Emmanuel, the two have a close bond, with TikToks showing the pair hugging and cuddling.
    Elliot Lewis, NBC News, 19 July 2022
  • That doesn’t mean owners should scold their dogs, but instead, train them to settle down on command so that when a storm comes, the dog knows what to do.
    Fiza Pirani, ajc, 3 May 2021
  • Is Biden right to scold oil executives for the pain Americans are feeling at the pump?
    Harold Maass, The Week, 17 June 2022
  • Arthur comes to life, again and again, springing forth from Richard’s mind to prompt, scold or even slap him for his choices surrounding Oxy and the business.
    Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Xing, who ran three massage parlors, could be a nasty boss, scolding or firing those who crossed her.
    Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2023
  • What bothered me the most was the lack of proper etiquette in a theater, and that rather than correct their children, the mothers scolded me.
    Judith Martin, oregonlive, 16 Sep. 2023
  • Court marshals made one of his supporters leave the courtroom and scolded others for trying to talk to him.
    Taylor Hartz, Hartford Courant, 2 Jan. 2024
  • Haberman used to scold her fellow reporters for their Twitter habits.
    Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2021
  • Just telling the story makes Gerwig laugh; there’s nothing self-righteous or scolding about her tone.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 15 Jan. 2020
  • Then the subject of their role-play, the iconic Utopian (Josh Duhamel), who happens to be their dad, flies down to scold his daughter Chloe for taking things too far.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 7 May 2021
  • If Robert Black drops out of college, and that day could be coming soon, his professor and his parents aren't going to cry or scold.
    Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2021
  • The movement comes months after a report scolded UMN for its historic mistreatment of the state's tribes.
    Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 9 July 2023
  • Less common than posters that scold or taunt or threaten are those that entice people with Earth’s beauty.
    Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024
  • Fricker doesn’t scold people for recreational use of the waters.
    Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Just try changing your baby's diaper on it – the flight attendants will scold you and send you to the lavatory.
    Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 26 May 2023
  • Just try changing your baby’s diaper on it — the flight attendants will scold you and send you to the lavatory.
    Christopher Elliott, Dallas News, 31 May 2023
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scold

2 of 2 noun
  • He can be a bit of a scold sometimes.
  • The letter, which is twice as long as the press release, is a masterpiece of pure scold.
    WSJ, 15 July 2018
  • It should be noted that Carter has long been a Clinton scold and skeptic.
    Jeet Heer, New Republic, 9 May 2017
  • But what gets lost in that mess is that journalists aren’t just naysayers and scolds.
    Robert Hackett, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2019
  • But analysts aren’t convinced that the United States will do much more than scold.
    Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 5 June 2019
  • Dude, Daniel is now married to chief scold Amanda LaRusso.
    Cydney Lee, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2021
  • Insist on clear answers to these questions, and his defenders might call you a scold.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2020
  • In Sacramento, Brown continued to act as the experienced, savvy adult and scold, keeping the left in line.
    George Skelton, latimes.com, 18 Sep. 2017
  • Horror? Pitiless tsk-tsking from snooty British scolds?
    Maria Puente, USA TODAY, 6 July 2017
  • But he can't be dismissed as just another hypocrite scold.
    Randy Dotinga, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 June 2017
  • She was roundly attacked by many as an ungrateful scold.
    Dom Giordano, Philly.com, 11 Oct. 2017
  • In the Senate, Ms. Warren’s role has been more of an effective scold than a legislative heavyweight.
    Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times, 9 June 2016
  • Lately, the scold has been ascendant, and some tech companies deserve a scolding and worse.
    Owen Thomas, SFChronicle.com, 3 July 2019
  • Meanwhile, Cosby became an elder statesman in the black community and at times a scold who, in one famous speech, didn't shrink from telling young men to pull up their pants.
    Corky Siemaszko, NBC News, 18 June 2017
  • Her backup dancers at the New York gay pride parade. Warren Beatty as condescending scold.
    Joe Coscarelli, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2016
  • And that can be stressful particularly since parents want their kids to have fun on Halloween while not being a scold or wet blanket.
    Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10 Oct. 2017
  • Considering how often progressives are portrayed as joyless scolds, this is a message that needs to get out more.
    Katha Pollitt, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2018
  • Who better to tackle this subject than history scold Phil Goodstein?
    Sandra Dallas, The Denver Post, 13 June 2019
  • Even Blanchett’s Schlafly is a charismatic, unflappable bulldozer, not a self-righteous scold.
    Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2020
  • Brown’s entertaining rhetoric itself made him sound, as usual, like a skinflint, a penny-pinching scold.
    George Skelton, latimes.com, 15 May 2017
  • This is not to say Duncan is a scold or a left-puncher—his trajectory toward more radical forms of economic justice is clear.
    David Klion, The New Republic, 20 Aug. 2021
  • Here, she's forced to play straight woman and scold to Schumer's raunchy free spirit, bumbling her way through life-or-death confrontations and her own budding cultural sensitivity.
    The Washington Post, NOLA.com, 12 May 2017
  • But, honestly, my comment is intended — and received — as a scold and sometimes embarrasses them, as others hear it.
    Judith Martin, Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2020
  • Seconds after their entire section overheard this gentle scold, a ball came soaring off the bat of Orioles catcher Pedro Severino.
    Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 25 Apr. 2021
  • Not too long ago academic and media scolds were dismissing U.S. drug research as providing little more than marginal gains.
    The Editorial Board, WSJ, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Pollan’s literary persona has a rare, almost Thoreauvian affect: the lovable scold.
    Tom Bissell, New York Times, 4 June 2018
  • At which point her little sister — ever the explainer, ever the scold — declared that in captivity, the dolphins’ signals bounce crazily off the walls; their capacity for echolocation drives them mad.
    Kerry Howley, Daily Intelligencer, 22 Dec. 2017
  • Out on the course, a pair of Eastern kingbirds pugnaciously defended territory against all comers, all the while giving their characteristic tinkling scold.
    Taylor Piephoff, charlotteobserver, 6 June 2018
  • Magda might have been introduced as a loveless scold on paper, but after ten years of playing her on television and in film, Lynn’s performance elevated Magda to an extension of Miranda’s family.
    Catherine Cusick, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • Director Cox tackles consumerism, commodification, capitalism, and conformism, but he’s not a scold.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 July 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scold.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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