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:
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
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
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
One girl even dropped a beautiful knit scarf on the floor, but her mother didn't chide her like my mother was chiding me.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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
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
Contemplating escaping Rome, she talks of buying an island; Marcello chides her: “Your problem is you have too much money.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
“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
Cassidy--who was in splendid military garb, which made his stalwart figure look like a modern Mars--had joined them on their entry; and chid them severely now for daring to be suspicious of Mr. Crosbie.
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. II (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Lewis Wingfield
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
She knew what “The Muppet Show” star symbolized and recognized what she meant to her misfit youngest, a zaftig kid frequently chided for taking up too much space.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
And so you run away again, Cupid chided.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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
“Were you wanting me, papa?” said Jean, feeling more and more like the childish culprit that was to be chidden first and then forgiven.
From The Twa Miss Dawsons by Margaret M. (Margaret Murray) Robertson
"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
This will show him—should you beat him, you would confuse his ideas—that he is chidden for not paying attention to the whistle.
From The Dog by Dinks
Yesterday Bertram would have chidden Ali gently, and explained that kind hearts are more than coronets and gentle words than cruel whips.
From Cupid in Africa by P. C. Wren
Less than 24 hours after that chiding, Amorim was sacked, and the focus was on the part Wilcox played in that.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
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
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
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
“If we get saved,” Irmgard said in a scolding, severe tone, as if chiding her, “it’ll be because of Roy.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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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
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