as in self-annihilation
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Recent Examples of self-flagellation
In 1994 Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was also a cleric with the rank of ayatollah, issued a fatwa forbidding the practice of self-flagellation.
—
Charles Preston,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
22 May 2026
Grace's departure is handled carefully in John of John, even buried under the gross tonnage of John Mcleod's flaws and relentless self-flagellation.
—
Paula Cooper,
CBS News,
5 May 2026
Both the criticism and self-flagellation imply that the act of claiming another person’s words can render these words deceitful, even if the words have been paid for and the content is true.
—
Emily Hodgson Anderson,
The Conversation,
25 Mar. 2026
Huerta shouldn’t have to engage in this rite of self-flagellation, of course, but she and Chavez are linked by their legacies as two of the greatest civil rights fighters in our history.
—
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
The struggle and self-flagellation devoted to the doomed attempt to stop wasting time is likely merely another way to waste your time.
—
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
The same could be said for Howe’s lacerating self-flagellation afterwards.
—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2026
At the same time, invisibility has come as a relief, insofar as my vanity always kept company with self-consciousness and self-flagellation.
—
Lucinda Rosenfeld,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
The technique was initially practiced alone, but in 1260 a hermit in Perugia launched a movement, and organized processions of mass self-flagellation broke out across Italy.
—
Michael Robbins,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Charles Preston,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
22 May 2026
Grace's departure is handled carefully in John of John, even buried under the gross tonnage of John Mcleod's flaws and relentless self-flagellation.
—
Paula Cooper,
CBS News,
5 May 2026
Both the criticism and self-flagellation imply that the act of claiming another person’s words can render these words deceitful, even if the words have been paid for and the content is true.
—
Emily Hodgson Anderson,
The Conversation,
25 Mar. 2026
Huerta shouldn’t have to engage in this rite of self-flagellation, of course, but she and Chavez are linked by their legacies as two of the greatest civil rights fighters in our history.
—
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
The struggle and self-flagellation devoted to the doomed attempt to stop wasting time is likely merely another way to waste your time.
—
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
The same could be said for Howe’s lacerating self-flagellation afterwards.
—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2026
At the same time, invisibility has come as a relief, insofar as my vanity always kept company with self-consciousness and self-flagellation.
—
Lucinda Rosenfeld,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
The technique was initially practiced alone, but in 1260 a hermit in Perugia launched a movement, and organized processions of mass self-flagellation broke out across Italy.
—
Michael Robbins,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-flagellation
Noun
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The will toward self-annihilation is a familiar human characteristic.
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Her self-annihilation is grisly and impossible to misinterpret as a final repudiation of her role in the HMS Courageous bombing and, until Grace announces she’d like Hal to be her vice-president, is the most intense and far-reaching twist of the episode.
Noun
-
On the brink of elimination, the Spurs would learn from their self-immolation and grow a strategic brain to match their undeniable skills.
-
Gonzales admitted to having an affair with a former staffer who died by self-immolation.
Noun
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This is a book of profound intellectual altruism and moral urgency that insists on summoning courage despite (or because of) societal and political cleavage.
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Musk did push for structures that would have given him control, and Altman and Brockman became extraordinarily wealthy from an organization built around the language of altruism.
Noun
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Couples who stay close over the long haul rarely run on pure self-sacrifice.
-
Parenthood has demanded a level of commitment and self-sacrifice from me that, in any other context, would be considered pathological.
Noun
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But Beijing’s magnanimity isn’t going to transform the continent’s economy.
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His magnanimity did not last long.
Noun
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When storage itself is put on display, of course, the museum is still speaking, declaring both the wealth of its holdings and its generosity in sharing them.
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Badly wounded in a battle of revenge, Robin Hood is brought to a priory and tended by Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer), whose generosity awakens his finer feelings and spurs him to virtuous, self-sacrificing action.
Cite this Entry
“Self-flagellation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-flagellation. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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