castigate

play

verb cas·ti·gate \ˈkas-tə-ˌgāt\

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.

castigation

play \ˌkas-tə-ˈgā-shən\ noun

castigator

play \ˈkas-tə-ˌgā-tər\ noun

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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

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.

— andrea mandell, USA TODAY, "Alec Baldwin tells Kathy Griffin to 'ignore' Trump", 3 June 2017
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.

— j. david goodman, New York Times, "What’s Keeping the Mayor From Going Green? His Gym Routine", 2 June 2017
Echoing the sentiments of world leaders, American Democrats are endlessly castigating Trump for his decision.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Hillary not the only Dem who doesn't get 2016", 2 June 2017
In Brussels, the president had just castigated NATO allies for their defense spending.

— philip rucker, Washington Post, "Inside Trump’s climate decision: After fiery debate, he ‘stayed where he’s always been’", 1 June 2017
As news emerged Wednesday that Trump planned to quit the Paris deal, business leaders and foreign heads-of-state began castigating the decision as a woeful abandonment of US leadership.

— kevin liptak, CNN, "High anticipation ahead of Trump's Paris climate decision", 1 June 2017
Cunningham doled out some criticism himself, castigating his predecessor, Wayne Motley, for failing to write a budget before the fiscal year began May 1, the same day Cunningham, formerly the 1st Ward alderman, was sworn in as mayor.

— luke hammill, Lake County News-Sun, "Cunningham dishes and takes criticism at first budget hearing as Waukegan mayor", 31 May 2017
Many moderates are wary of a bill that would let Democratic opponents castigate them for snatching away coverage like maternity care.

— alan fram, The Seattle Times, "McConnell faces a challenge passing health care in Senate", 30 May 2017
Now is your chance to castigate me in the comments.

— charlie sorrel, WIRED, "Five Gadgets for Persecuted Smokers", 4 June 2008

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

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First Known Use: 1606

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of castigate

punish, chastise, castigate, chasten, discipline, correct mean to inflict a penalty on in requital for wrongdoing. punish implies subjecting to a penalty for wrongdoing. punished for stealing chastise may apply to either the infliction of corporal punishment or to verbal censure or denunciation. chastised his son for neglecting his studies castigate usually implies a severe, typically public censure. an editorial castigating the entire city council chasten suggests any affliction or trial that leaves one humbled or subdued. chastened by a landslide election defeat discipline implies a punishing or chastening in order to bring under control. parents must discipline their children correct implies punishing aimed at reforming an offender. the function of prison is to correct the wrongdoer