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

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.

— michael birnbaum, Washington Post, "NATO allies boost defense spending in the wake of Trump criticism," 28 June 2017
No wonder one outraged reporter castigated her for inflaming the public against the press.

— hal boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Come back, Sean Spicer: Fiasco at White House," 27 June 2017
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.

— richard lardner, chicagotribune.com, "Senate passes sweeping sanctions bill targeting Iran, Russia," 15 June 2017
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.

— elizabeth weingarten, The Atlantic, "Is This the End of the Crusade for Gender-Equal Curricula?," 15 June 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May has castigated Silicon Valley for not doing enough to...

— stu woo, WSJ, "U.K. Political Campaigns, More Companies Pull YouTube Ads Over Extremist Videos," 8 June 2017
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

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

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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