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
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 16 Apr. 2025
One such moment seemingly backfired when his ex left a long voicemail chastising him—likely triggered after one of the kids repeated an insult.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
People had called, but Tommy wouldn’t answer — odd for a man Maryanne often chastised for taking too many calls at the dinner table.
—Kristina Goetz, USA Today, 13 Apr. 2025
The finale opens with Robby chastising the officers for cuffing her amidst a mass casualty event.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 11 Apr. 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 4 May. 2025.
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chastise
verb
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