Scolds or criticizes someone mildly for doing something wrong; expresses disapproval in a gentle but firm way.
From Old English 'chidan' meaning 'to chide or scold.' The word has Germanic roots and has been used since before 1000 AD to describe the act of reproaching someone verbally.
The verb 'chide' is one of the few Old English words that survived into modern English almost unchanged, yet it sounds oddly formal today—we use it mostly in literature and formal speech, which shows how language shifts what words feel natural to say.
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