as in to whip
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
some medieval monks believed it was necessary to flagellate themselves in order to keep their desires in check
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Recent Examples of flagellate
For Logan, none of these self-flagellating exercises mattered.
—
Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2023
One Peruvian candidate has taken time to talk about his habit of wearing a wire chain, known as a cilice, every day to flagellate himself.
—Star Tribune, 8 Apr. 2021
All are said to have had affairs with Lucian Freud (was there anyone who didn’t?), three with Arthur Koestler and one with Egypt’s King Farouk (who liked to flagellate her on the steps of the royal palace with his dressing-gown cord).
—Moira Hodgson, WSJ, 31 Jan. 2020
Muslims were mobilizing; once, Mr. Rizvi visited during Muharram, an annual ritual of mourning, and found her surrounded by pilgrims, flagellating themselves with chains to which razor blades had been attached.
—Ellen Barry, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2019
See All Example Sentences for flagellate
Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2023
One Peruvian candidate has taken time to talk about his habit of wearing a wire chain, known as a cilice, every day to flagellate himself.
—Star Tribune, 8 Apr. 2021
All are said to have had affairs with Lucian Freud (was there anyone who didn’t?), three with Arthur Koestler and one with Egypt’s King Farouk (who liked to flagellate her on the steps of the royal palace with his dressing-gown cord).
—Moira Hodgson, WSJ, 31 Jan. 2020
Muslims were mobilizing; once, Mr. Rizvi visited during Muharram, an annual ritual of mourning, and found her surrounded by pilgrims, flagellating themselves with chains to which razor blades had been attached.
—Ellen Barry, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2019
See All Example Sentences for flagellate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flagellate
Verb
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Hakeem actually whipped his members to shut the government down.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Sep. 2025
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Folding whipped topping gently into the pudding mixture keeps the filling fluffy and mousse-like.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And Kirsten Dunst plays Leigh Wainscott, the Charlotte mom Manchester dated while hiding out off Independence Boulevard.—
Théoden Janes,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Sep. 2025
-
In the trailer, the three men get right to their antics with a broken vase, hiding a dead body, a dynamic SWAT entry, and running in an attempt to escape.—
DeMicia Inman,
VIBE.com,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But French police have also been observed previously using knives to slash and sink the inflatable boats of migrants who put up little or no resistance.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
28 Sep. 2025
-
The application window was slashed from the usual month-long period to just nine days, buried during a national crisis when many filmmakers were literally unable to access government offices due to civil unrest.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Speccie’s star columnist is the rudest man in Christendom, the Godzilla of contumely, an all-time non-sufferer of fools who horsewhips his targets the way Hunter S. Thompson and Christopher Hitchens once did.—
Kyle Smith,
National Review,
23 Apr. 2020
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In reality, Watson wasn’t a bar fighter or famous for horsewhipping cowboys.—
Eliza McGraw,
Smithsonian,
12 Mar. 2018
Verb
-
Imelda pulled away from the Bahamas Monday evening after lashing the islands with heavy rain, tropical storm-force winds and storm surge for two days.—
Briana Waxman,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
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In the meantime, Whitmer called on everyone tracking the tragedy to not lash out.—
Dave Boucher,
Freep.com,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Mounting annoyance manifested itself in bizarre fashion last night when manager Chris Wilder, walking towards the tunnel at half-time, leathered a ball into the crowd in anger, above.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Heeled, bubbled, square-toed, strapped or leathered out with metal accents like Longoria’s, the shape is proving its range.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The film’s abundant humor and humanity are both rooted in DiCaprio’s ability to contain both of those people at once — to span the distance between those opposite shores while flailing towards each of them with equal desperation.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
26 Sep. 2025
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The Red Sox continue to get help from the flailing Houston Astros, who lost 6-0 to the Athletics late Wednesday night for the club’s fifth straight loss.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In Malaysia, which is on track to morph from an aging society to an aged one, unwed mothers are stigmatized — and sometimes even flogged.—
Daniel Moss,
Mercury News,
4 Sep. 2025
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The Black Death and its aftermath saw a great resurgence of apocalyptic flagellation, with thousands of adherents flogging themselves up and down the Continent (the movement failed to take off in England, which figures).—
Michael Robbins,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flagellate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flagellate. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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