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
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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
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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
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chidedsimple
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had chidperfect
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had chiddenperfect
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had chidedperfect
-
was chidingprogressive
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were chidingprogressive
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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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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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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:
He never missed an opportunity to chide his colleagues for their failure to apply their own precedents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
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
I was muted so much, athletes would chide me by pushing an imaginary button when I asked a question.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 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
Her mom would always chide Rosa lightly, and then the conversation would turn to something else.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
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
Much of the lesson is taken up by long, hard-hitting rallies between the two of them, interspersed with Sell’s chides and words of encouragement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2024
One of his hosts chides him for talking while he should be eating her excellent food, as anyone's mom would do.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2023
“So closed-minded,” the Obayifo chides, its eyes sliding around angrily.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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
“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
They chid the weak and reproved the strong; even formed themselves into a night-police for the security of the capital.
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Lewis Wingfield
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
For a recurring exhibition that is often chided for its deafening, in-your-face messaging, this edition of the show is all but silent; for a show that’s known—almost famous—for generating controversy, this outing is entirely anodyne.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
“I have a sore throat,” is the first line of dialogue we hear Harold say, after being chided for playing with his food at the table.
From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2026
“Calm down, Duuzuu,” I chided, but his coos only grew more spirited.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
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
I am not a child that needs to be chidden with the rod or with harsh speeches; and my father's blood boils as fiercely in my veins as the blood of the Douglas in yours.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 15 by Various
I had heard the same when I was a child; the nurse had been chidden for talking of it in my presence, and my own questions on the subject had always been evaded.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol 1-98, 1850-1899 None by Various (magazine) Harper
It was for this that His followers had chidden her.
From The Gospel According to St. Mark by G. A. Chadwick
To be scolded and chidden, and told that she did not deserve such a true lover as Owen, was such happiness as she could not be grateful enough for!
From That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 3 by Frances Eleanor Trollope
Museveni, who has ruled the country since 1986, routinely addresses the nation on TV, chiding residents to adhere to proper hygiene and other preventive measures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 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
But it was Bowen Yang’s return as Chinese trade minister Chen Biao that won the night, chiding Americans over Trump’s ongoing trade war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2025
First he had set down a few principles and done a little chiding.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Definitions 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.
