chastise
verb
(ˌ)cha-ˈstīz
Did you know?
If you want to understand the meaning of chastise (which comes from the Anglo-French verb castier, meaning “to discipline”), you could do worse than to turn to popular music. Pop, rap, jazz, rock, country—there’s not a single genre that isn’t full of songs penned from the point of view of jilted and/or cheated lovers chastising—that is, harshly criticizing—the one who did them wrong. Nearly every song on Beyoncé’s 2016 album Lemonade, for example, is a master class in chastisement (chastisement being, of course, the noun form of chastise), featuring such lyrics as “What a wicked way to treat the girl that loves you” and “Ten times out of nine, I know you’re lying.” Chastise itself pops up in lyrics occasionally, too, as sung by artists including Guns N’ Roses (“So don’t chastise me or think I mean you harm”), Dr. Dre (“Fool, you better recognize / Death Row came to chastise”), and Janet Jackson (“Control and chastise / An instrument of punishment / Like a whip”). Jackson’s use is notable in particular for representing the word’s oldest sense, less common but still in use, of “to inflict punishment on (as with a whip).”
Examples of chastise in a Sentence
Miami Herald, 14 July 2025
Councilmember Rodriguez chastised both Park and Soto-Martínez.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025
Pomerleau did not approve of the living arrangement, chastising Horsman for being a 41-year-old man who was unemployed and living in his mother’s home, according to witnesses.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 30 June 2025
Despite appointing Powell to the role in 2017, Trump has frequently chastised the Fed chair for keeping rates higher than the president would like.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for chastise
Cite this Entry
“Chastise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chastise. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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chastise
verb
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