Definition of castigate
castigated
;castigating
transitive verb
: to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism The judge castigated the lawyers for their lack of preparation.
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Examples of castigate in a Sentence
The author castigated the prime minister as an ineffective leader.
castigated him for his constant tardiness
Recent Examples of castigate from the Web
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Trump has repeatedly castigated NATO allies for their dependence on the U.S. military for their defense and has at times called into question the basic U.S. security guarantees that have underpinned European stability since World War II.
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No wonder one outraged reporter castigated her for inflaming the public against the press.
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He's instead castigated his own intelligence community and rejected its assessment that Russia's hacking and disinformation campaign was intended to aid his candidacy.
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Just like feminist movement itself, the push to include women and gender analysis in history curricula is not about castigating men or about prioritizing one gender over another.
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Prime Minister Theresa May has castigated Silicon Valley for not doing enough to...
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The brouhaha brought back memories of 1998 for Baldwin, who was famously castigated for going on Conan O'Brien's show and ranting about stoning GOP Congressman Henry Hyde and his family to death.
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Mr. de Blasio’s exchange with Charles occurred minutes after the mayor, in the interview, castigated President Trump for pulling the United States out of the Paris accord on climate change and urged listeners to stop using plastic shopping bags.
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Echoing the sentiments of world leaders, American Democrats are endlessly castigating Trump for his decision.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'castigate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Castigate has a synonym in chastise - both verbs mean to punish or to censure someone. Fittingly, both words derive from the same root: the Latin castigare, formed from the words for "pure" (castus) and "to drive" (agere). (Castus also gave us the noun caste, meaning "social class or rank.") Another verb derived from castigare is chasten, which can also mean "to discipline by punishment" but more commonly means "to subdue or make humble" (as in "chastened by his foolish error"). Castigate is the youngest of the three verbs in English, dating from the early 17th century, some three centuries after chasten and chastise.
Origin and Etymology of castigate
Latin castigatus, past participle of castigare — more at chasten
Synonym Discussion of castigate
CASTIGATE Defined for English Language Learners
castigate
playDefinition of castigate for English Language Learners
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: to criticize (someone) harshly
CASTIGATE Defined for Kids
castigate
playDefinition of castigate for Students
castigated
;castigating
: to punish or criticize harshly
Learn More about castigate
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See words that rhyme with castigate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for castigate Spanish Central: Translation of castigate Nglish: Translation of castigate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of castigate for Arabic speakers
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