chide
Americanverb (used with object)
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chides,
present (3rd person singular)
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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
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chidinglyadverb
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unchidinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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chidesimple
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chidessimple
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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
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has chidedperfect
-
am chidingprogressive
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are chidingprogressive
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is chidingprogressive
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have been chidingperfect progressive
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has been chidingperfect progressive
Past
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chidsimple
-
chidedsimple
-
had chidperfect
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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:
When an aide briefed Ghalibaf on the president’s comment, he turned to chide his U.S. counterpart, JD Vance, people familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Human beings as a whole do not employ the same ethics a responsible newspaper does — though today many of us chide the press solely when the news is unfavorable to our own personal prejudices.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2026
It’s time to identify trends, recognize teams that greatly improved and chide those who stood pat or took a step backward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
Haley herself makes a similar argument, such as one jab to chide Trump for refusing to debate her.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
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
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
She arrives before he does, and when he opens the door to meet him, she chides his behavior.
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2024
On the doo-wop-influenced “Somebody Knew,” he chides himself for the foolish choices that led to a lost love.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2024
“You will not answer my questions, yet I should answer you?” she chides, but with a smile, revealing a gap in her front teeth.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Elvis Presley's iconic Graceland mansion will stay in the family after the death of his only chid, Lisa Marie Presley.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2023
Fed up and enraged, the king angrily chid, “Wear your armor all day, like the dasypodid!”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2022
Bell’s current list of charities covers a staggering amount of ground: animal rights, prostate cancer, stem cell donation, Alzheimer’s disease, international child hunger, domestic chid poverty and young mothers raised in foster care.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 26, 2018
“My refusing to eat Flesh occasioned an Inconveniency,” Franklin later recalled, “and I was frequently chid for my singularity.”
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2014
The master of the house came back, and gently chid him for his idleness.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851 by Various
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
“Wait patiently,” Grandma chided, wiping perspiration from her brow.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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
“Hear, hear,” said Joseph in a low voice, and the boy thought it additionally hard that he was to be chidden while his fellow-servant in livery went free.
From Lady Maude's Mania by George Manville Fenn
This was well, but the mention of your name was better, and much close questioning gave me the scene which he remembered, because Ottila had chidden him sharply for his disclosures to yourself.
From Moods by Louisa May Alcott
She declared her intention to accompany me to the ends of the earth; and had to be chidden by her sire for drawing comparisons between myself and her Uncle William, highly damaging to the latter.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 13 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson
Some twenty of us, including the chidden, but wholly unabashed soldiers, went at it in line, and, after the manner of stone-faced banks, it grew very tall as we approached it.
From Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Martin Ross
The characters were pricklier and more restless than I remembered, and Alcott’s voice—good-natured but chiding, unsentimental—was a revelation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
Gigi now starts each video chiding commentators who accuse her of being AI.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2025
And he did it all with a smirk on his face and a chip on his shoulder, relentlessly chiding the league over its salary cap, the level of play, travel and officiating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 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
I hear her voice in my head, chiding me for not knowing better.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
