castigates

verb

present tense third-person singular of castigate
1
as in scolds
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings castigated him for his constant tardiness

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2
as in attacks
to criticize harshly and usually publicly a newspaper editorial castigating the city council for approving the project in the first place

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in punishes
to inflict a penalty on for a fault or crime a judge who believes in castigating criminals to the full extent of the law

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for castigates
  1. scolds
  2. attacks
  3. punishes
  4. criticizes
  5. slams
  6. lectures
  7. excoriates
  8. reprimands
Verb
  • Someone else scolds the offender.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 16 June 2026
  • Inspired by This Is Spinal Tap, Cundieff makes quick work of lambasting the casual misogyny and homophobia ingrained in hardcore rap, but also of the media scolds unable to parse the message of the music.
    — Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 3 June 2026
Definition of scolds
Verb
  • The once-quiet judges see a growing threat in a president who personally attacks jurists ruling against him.
    — Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 11 July 2026
  • The study surveyed blood donations for the disease’s key antibody, which is in a class dubbed IgE and specifically attacks a double-sugar molecule called galactose-α-1,3-galactose, also known as alpha-gal.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 7 July 2026
Definition of attacks
Verb
  • Concealment is what a smart person does inside a system that punishes candor.
    — Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
  • But Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the ban needlessly punishes the over 150 million Telegram users in the country, instead of the insiders who leaked the exam materials.
    — Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 20 June 2026
Definition of punishes
Verb
  • Conversely, Kinaxis's Manik Sharma, a former Palantir executive, acknowledges FDE's potential but criticizes Palantir's execution due to engineers lacking domain knowledge.
    — Steve Banker, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • The couple has been targeted by a group called Boycott Divest Zabludowicz, which criticizes them for supporting a pro-Israel lobby.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 25 June 2026
Definition of criticizes
Verb
  • This is happening as a demographic shift to an older, grayer population slams Colorado.
    — Bruce Finley, Denver Post, 5 July 2026
  • Taylor Sheridan slams critics Sheridan's series are all hits with regular people, but he's routinely been a target for critics.
    — David Hookstead OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of slams
Verb
  • In fact, they were borne out of more practical considerations, said Elizabeth Morton, a planning and urban design consultant who lectures at George Washington University.
    — Rachel Treisman, NPR, 9 July 2026
  • Today’s successful downtowns rely on a mix of ingredients, said Steven Falk, the former city manager of Lafayette, who’s served as an interim city executive in Oakland and Richmond and who lectures at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
    — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 2 June 2026
Definition of lectures
Verb
  • Smullen’s campaign launched an anti-Constantino website that excoriates him for, among many other things, his past registration as a Democrat.
    — Michael Hill, Fortune, 12 June 2026
  • Woodcutters sets forth the musings of a narrator sitting in an armchair at a dinner party who excoriates the literary awards establishments of his native land (and by extension all lands that are host to a robust bourgeoisie).
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
Definition of excoriates
Verb
  • The emperor reprimands her for being late for the rainmaking ritual.
    — Lavender Au, The Dial, 30 June 2026
  • His supervisor appears as a ticket conductor and reprimands him for doing nothing.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2026
Definition of reprimands
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Castigates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/castigates. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on castigates

Nglish: Translation of castigates for Spanish Speakers

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