chide
Americanverb (used with object)
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chides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chided,
past participle, past
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chid,
past participle, past
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chidden,
past participle
-
chiding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
chides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chided,
past participle, past
-
chid,
past participle, past
-
chidden,
past participle
-
chiding
present participle
verb
-
to rebuke or scold
-
(tr) to goad into action
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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chidernoun
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outchideverb (used with object)
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unchidadjective
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unchiddenadjective
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unchidedadjective
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unchidingadjective
-
chidinglyadverb
-
unchidinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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chidesimple
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chidessimple
-
have chidperfect
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have chiddenperfect
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have chidedperfect
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has chidperfect
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has chiddenperfect
-
has chidedperfect
-
am chidingprogressive
-
are chidingprogressive
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is chidingprogressive
-
have been chidingperfect progressive
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has been chidingperfect progressive
Past
-
chidsimple
-
chidedsimple
-
had chidperfect
-
had chiddenperfect
-
had chidedperfect
-
was chidingprogressive
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were chidingprogressive
-
had been chidingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chide
before 1000; Middle English chiden, Old English cīdan
Explanation
To chide someone is to ride them or get on their case, without really getting in their face. People have been nagging since well before the 12th century, when the word chide came along as a new way to say "complain" or "rail." If you want to remind someone of a flaw they have or an error they keep repeating, you might chide them with sarcasm, humor, or some seriousness. Where a sharp elbow in the ribs lets you know "Stop it, right now!," a chide is more like a gentle elbow in the belly, saying "Come on, you're late; did you forget your watch again?"
Vocabulary lists containing chide
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But these days, he’s been attacking Pope Leo XIV, even going so far as to chide the pontiff to “to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
He suggested it had material useful to Iran’s war effort and seemed to chide China’s leader, Xi Jinping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
“I’m sure once Christmastime rolls around, we’ll kind of chide him a little bit,” Karras joked.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 9, 2023
But it’s clear that we’re in a new frontier of public behavior… and that it might be more difficult—and more dangerous—to chide our neighbors.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2023
My mother’s acute senses sometimes surprise me, but now they chide me.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
When Teng feels that including a photo of dead children violates their dignity, Perlmutter chides her, insisting that their obligation is to show Americans what their tax dollars are funding.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Here, Holland’s Telemachus gambles Athena is hiding inside half the people he meets until his father chides, “Don’t look for gods in men, you’ll just be disappointed.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Epstein advises him on the sale of his healthcare business, and chides him for not being careful enough in checking out the background of a new contact.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
Jessica chides the footballer for calling her messy by way of flirting with her, explaining that it’s a diss that’s risen in popularity in the last five years.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2025
“Oh Eugenia,” Mother chides and pats my hand.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Ministers have said the policy, which could be worth as much as £20 a week per chid, was unaffordable and always time-limited.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2024
Fed up and enraged, the king angrily chid, “Wear your armor all day, like the dasypodid!”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2022
“Your just a big chid an won’t let me have a life!”
From The Guardian ● Oct. 31, 2019
“My refusing to eat Flesh occasioned an Inconveniency,” Franklin later recalled, “and I was frequently chid for my singularity.”
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2014
He meekly went back to bed when she gently chid him, but he was restless and slept little.
From The Best Policy by Elliott Flower
Reaves chided Doncic about losing in rowing, bowling and golf while they were in Slovenia together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
Korner chided the prosecution for "wholesale dumping" of documents and urged the parties to work together to reduce the size of the case file.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
In the first week of trial, she chided Musk for recent posts to his social media platform X, in which he spoke disparagingly of OpenAI and Sam Altman, whom he referred to as "Scam Altman".
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
“And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?’ ” the Talking Heads chided me mentally as I took stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
“No one is worthless, Uncle,” White Deer chided him gently.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Helen Burns asked some slight question about her work of Miss Smith, was chidden for the triviality of the inquiry, returned to her place, and smiled at me as she again went by.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Our merry laugh is not chidden, and we are early taught to minister to others.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine No. XVI.?September, 1851?Vol. III. by Various
He thought of her as she had come to distribute words of comfort, binding up the wounds of the afflicted, giving meat to the hungry; though her stern husband had chidden her for it.
From What the Moon Saw: and Other Tales by H. W. (Henry William) Dulcken
"There is no mark to guide the eye," Faltered the chidden man; "Yon thing of white is as the sky— No difference can I scan!"
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850 by Various
When chidden for his rashness, and what was thought a freak of passion, he answered that he never acted in a more cool and calculating spirit in his life.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847 by Various
Gallrein ended by chiding reporters: “Be fair and balanced, can we do that?”
From Slate ● May 19, 2026
We still play cards and games together while chiding each other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
Gigi now starts each video chiding commentators who accuse her of being AI.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2025
One recent, pointed example drew on a speech from 2000, chiding people who lecture others but fail to preach by example.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2025
The men held back, fearful; but the bear spoke, to Lyra’s weary amazement, chiding them.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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