chastens

verb

present tense third-person singular of chasten
1
as in punishes
to inflict a penalty on for a fault or crime chastened the child with five minutes of sitting in the corner

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in humiliates
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for chastens
  1. punishes
  2. humiliates
  3. discredits
  4. humbles
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
  • Diomande just humiliates fullbacks.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 12 June 2026
  • Incompetent leadership humiliates us on the global stage.
    — Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
Definition of humiliates
Verb
  • The praiseworthyness of having both sides of the debate evaporates when the host actively discredits the expert and reflexively enhances the legitimacy of the conspiracy theorist.
    — Rafael Perez, Oc Register, 1 Dec. 2025
  • Yet despite its popularity, research discredits this long-standing belief.
    — Taryn White, Travel + Leisure, 29 Oct. 2025
Definition of discredits
Verb
  • Janve, who centers his work in mountain landscapes, spoke at a press meeting about nature in the film functioning as a mirror that flatters and humbles its human subjects simultaneously.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 20 June 2026
  • Getting an injury, that’s one thing that humbles you.
    — Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 June 2026
Definition of humbles
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.

Browse Nearby Words

chastening
chastens
chastise
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Chastens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chastens. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on chastens

Nglish: Translation of chastens for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All