as in punitive
inflicting, involving, or serving as punishment
a chastening hour spent cleaning floors should discourage them from further pranks
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in punishing
to inflict a penalty on for a fault or crime
chastened the child with five minutes of sitting in the corner
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in humiliating
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
the unexpected loss to a second-rate player really chastened the tournament's top-seeded tennis star
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in condemnation
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of chastening
Roshane Thomas, The Athletic, 14 Mar. 2025
Market shakeouts are about testing risk tolerances, forcing a rethink of unexamined premises and, at times, chastening the arrogant.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2025
Noun
Two months later, his side suffered a 5-2 defeat to Crystal Palace, followed by a chastening 5-0 loss away to Chelsea in May.
—Roshane Thomas, The Athletic, 14 Mar. 2025
Market shakeouts are about testing risk tolerances, forcing a rethink of unexamined premises and, at times, chastening the arrogant.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chastening
Adjective
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In the spring, investors were worried the Department of Justice’s monopoly ruling meant that the search giant would be forced into a breakup that would be undoubtedly punitive, Cramer said.—
Julie Coleman,
CNBC,
8 Sep. 2025
-
The suit, served on Sharp last week, seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages and reimbursement for attorney’s fees.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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To me, more pragmatism means moving away from the corrupt, capricious policies of the current administration, such as crony capitalism that imposes bogus tariffs on free trade, punishing leaders and countries the president dislikes while favoring those who flatter him.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
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Over the course of five months spanning from floods to extreme drought, an elite team of wildlife cinematographers capture unparalleled animal behavior using state-of-the-art thermal cameras and drone technology, filming 24/7 across punishing terrain.—
Jessica Radloff,
Glamour,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This announcement, humiliating the involved member, is harmful.—
Kelly G. Richardson,
Oc Register,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The impact of the story, as audio of Hind’s voice from that call went viral on social media, sparked global condemnation.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
3 Sep. 2025
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That limitation was underscored this summer when the US launched air strikes on Iran, with China and Russia offering little in assistance apart from verbal condemnation of the attacks.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Further discrediting itself, Thursday’s writeup includes a marketing pitch for the SquareX platform.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
28 Aug. 2025
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Wolfenbarger’s defense attorneys began to focus on discrediting Norma as a witness after prosecutors relied on her testimony to show the jury that her daughter Melissa had allegedly suffered abuse at the hands of her husband before her 1998 disappearance, according to WSB-TV.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
21 Aug. 2025
Verb
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All of the footage of Powell playing football as Chad or Russ, went straight to Eli for his feedback, which was humbling, to say the least.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Sep. 2025
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Representing India in a section that celebrates bold new voices is both humbling and encouraging.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The deal, brokered after a standoff between state and county officials resulting from a disagreement over whether to raise assessments this year, means homeowners will see a nearly 7% increase above their 2024 property valuation.—
Madeline King,
Kansas City Star,
7 Sep. 2025
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As large language models like OpenAI’s GPT-3 and GPT-4 exploded onto the scene, students and teaching assistants alike began questioning whether assessments ought to be handled differently.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Like legions of dreamers before him, McGuirk started on film and TV sets as a PA, an often thankless job where random castigations from members of the cast or crew can be par for the course.—
Katie Kilkenny,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chastening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chastening. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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