1
as in scolded
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in punished
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of chastised
The governments of the three latter nations have now all chastised xAI, with Indonesia going as far as to temporarily block access to Grok.
—
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2026
Chu also chastised Seibold, the finance executive, for failing to change the month-to-month loan balances on the falsified records.
—Samuel O'Neal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Jan. 2026
Torre, for his part, publicly chastised the school for failing to respond to numerous outstanding records requests that would shed light on his reporting, and threatened to file a public records lawsuit.
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Dec. 2025
And chastised her family for not telling her earlier.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 29 Nov. 2025
The Fed’s internal watchdog ultimately cleared the pair of legal wrongdoing, but chastised them for undermining public confidence in the central bank.
—Amara Omeokwe, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2025
During a pre-pageant event, pageant director Nawat Itsaragrisil publicly chastised Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch, leading to a tense back-and-forth exchange that resulted in several contestants walking out in support of Bosch.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Nov. 2025
Weeks later, the long-running failures of the ETAN Tolling Technology software burst into public view, and SANDAG board members publicly chastised their senior executives for withholding key information from them.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Nov. 2025
Some critics also resurfaced comments from 2023 in which Patel chastised then-FBI Director Christopher Wray’s use of a government jet.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 3 Nov. 2025
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2026
Chu also chastised Seibold, the finance executive, for failing to change the month-to-month loan balances on the falsified records.
—Samuel O'Neal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Jan. 2026
Torre, for his part, publicly chastised the school for failing to respond to numerous outstanding records requests that would shed light on his reporting, and threatened to file a public records lawsuit.
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Dec. 2025
And chastised her family for not telling her earlier.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 29 Nov. 2025
The Fed’s internal watchdog ultimately cleared the pair of legal wrongdoing, but chastised them for undermining public confidence in the central bank.
—Amara Omeokwe, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2025
During a pre-pageant event, pageant director Nawat Itsaragrisil publicly chastised Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch, leading to a tense back-and-forth exchange that resulted in several contestants walking out in support of Bosch.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Nov. 2025
Weeks later, the long-running failures of the ETAN Tolling Technology software burst into public view, and SANDAG board members publicly chastised their senior executives for withholding key information from them.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Nov. 2025
Some critics also resurfaced comments from 2023 in which Patel chastised then-FBI Director Christopher Wray’s use of a government jet.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 3 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chastised
Verb
-
Students sat in rows, making faces at each other, scolded by their teachers to behave.—
David Wilson,
Daily News,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders scolded the media on Sunday after the team’s close loss to the Buffalo Bills at home.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
22 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Indiana physically punished Alabama in the quarterfinal.—
Michael Cunningham,
AJC.com,
12 Jan. 2026
-
People who have been punished but treated humanely have a far greater chance of successfully reintegrating into society, an important consideration for all of us.—
Mary Buser,
New York Daily News,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
So far, none of the agents involved in the shootings has been publicly suspended or reprimanded.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
14 Jan. 2026
-
The question is, since the Maryland SBE has been reprimanded in federal court three times in six years on related issues, what happens when the state continues to refuse to comply with federal law?—
Nicolee Ambrose,
Baltimore Sun,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
But this season’s 49ers team was lectured from the start to back off on the Super Bowl talk after last year’s 6-11 debacle and instead work on simply becoming a good team that gets better every week.—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
23 Dec. 2025
-
Meanwhile, Cheen also lectured on the music industry across Asia and Australia.—
Andrew McGowan,
Variety,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
No less than a half-dozen GOP senators publicly criticized the Department of Justice for investigating Powell over Hill testimony last year about the Fed headquarters’ renovation.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
13 Jan. 2026
-
The federal government has stepped up operations in Chicago and the Twin Cities, both Democratic strongholds, during the fall and local officials have criticized them for sowing chaos and confusion.—
Danya Gainor,
CNN Money,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Chastised.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chastised. Accessed 22 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
