1
as in to scold
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
a cold, distant father who rarely paid attention to his children except to chastise them
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to punish
to inflict a penalty on for a fault or crime
the division of opinion regarding the appropriate way to chastise juvenile perpetrators of adult crimes
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of chastise
Stewart Rennie chastised the trustees who supported splitting the district.
—
Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2025
In the latest example of how judicial systems around the world are grappling with how to handle the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in court, Sharp and fellow judge Jeremy Johnson chastised lawyers in two recent cases in a ruling on Friday.
—Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2025
In 2017, after two American students said they were raped by police officers on their way home from a Florence nightclub, then-Mayor Dario Nardella chose to respond by chastising the student population.
—John Last, Christian Science Monitor, 9 May 2025
House Republicans chastised Lamont and majority Democrats last month for shorting this contractual obligation by $228 million in their respective budget proposals for the next two fiscal years.
—Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for chastise
Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2025
In the latest example of how judicial systems around the world are grappling with how to handle the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in court, Sharp and fellow judge Jeremy Johnson chastised lawyers in two recent cases in a ruling on Friday.
—Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2025
In 2017, after two American students said they were raped by police officers on their way home from a Florence nightclub, then-Mayor Dario Nardella chose to respond by chastising the student population.
—John Last, Christian Science Monitor, 9 May 2025
House Republicans chastised Lamont and majority Democrats last month for shorting this contractual obligation by $228 million in their respective budget proposals for the next two fiscal years.
—Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for chastise
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chastise
Verb
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Paul Krugman has referred to deficit hawks as ‘deficit scolds’, because the spend more time warning about the dangers of the deficit than fixing it.—
Mike O'Sullivan,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
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Musk and Gor reportedly clashed in Cabinet meetings where Musk scolded Gor over personnel disagreements in recent months.—
Ally Goelz,
The Washington Examiner,
19 June 2025
Verb
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Road America punishes hesitation and rewards nerve, making every session breathtaking.—
Jenny Catlin,
New York Times,
20 June 2025
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The Pentagon has shifted warplanes and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to rage, but the moves have been defensive in nature as the U.S. observes rather than participates in Israel’s punishing air campaign, according to U.S. officials.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
18 June 2025
Verb
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That brief timeline likely means that Combs — who has been reprimanded by Judge Arun Subramanian for nodding at jurors while his defense attorneys cross-examine government witnesses — will not take the stand.—
Isabella Gomez Sarmiento,
NPR,
24 June 2025
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But Pitt later said in an interview with GQ in 2024 that Alcoholics Anonymous reprimanded him for talking about his experience with the group publicly.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
16 June 2025
Verb
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At a time when establishing clarity of first principles has never been more urgent, UF’s law school practically dared anyone to criticize the award for whitewashing the Constitution.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 June 2025
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In his post, the New York state Assemblymember criticized online trolls for targeting Duwaji during his mayoral campaign.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Nonetheless, the missing performers were lectured by Richard Grenell, Trump’s new president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—a man with, inevitably, no experience in any of them—that performers must perform for people of all political parties.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 June 2025
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At the Cooper Union in New York in November, Sumner again lectured on Adams’s theory, while a group of Republicans and radical abolitionists sat behind his podium on the stage.—
Zaakir Tameez
June 11,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chastise.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chastise. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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