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discipline

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word discipline distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of discipline are castigate, chasten, chastise, correct, and punish. While all these words mean "to inflict a penalty on in requital for wrongdoing," discipline implies a punishing or chastening in order to bring under control.

parents must discipline their children

When is castigate a more appropriate choice than discipline?

The meanings of castigate and discipline largely overlap; however, castigate usually implies a severe, typically public censure.

an editorial castigating the entire city council

When would chasten be a good substitute for discipline?

The synonyms chasten and discipline are sometimes interchangeable, but chasten suggests any affliction or trial that leaves one humbled or subdued.

chastened by a landslide election defeat

When can chastise be used instead of discipline?

While the synonyms chastise and discipline are close in meaning, chastise may apply to either the infliction of corporal punishment or to verbal censure or denunciation.

chastised his son for neglecting his studies

When might correct be a better fit than discipline?

While in some cases nearly identical to discipline, correct implies punishing aimed at reforming an offender.

the function of prison is to correct the wrongdoer

When is it sensible to use punish instead of discipline?

The words punish and discipline can be used in similar contexts, but punish implies subjecting to a penalty for wrongdoing.

punished for stealing

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 discipline
Noun
Suter added that the new installations mirror how designers actually work, drawing inspiration from various disciplines and creating mood boards. Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 22 Sep. 2025 Officials there can file a complaint with the Administrative Hearing Commission, which decides if discipline is warranted. Katie Moore, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
Those triples discipline the story’s structure. Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2025 Bad Apples seems like another entry into that canon, until Maria (Saoirse Ronan), a primary-school instructor reeling after a painful breakup, goes too far while disciplining a particularly disruptive pupil. Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for discipline
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discipline
Noun
  • Bailey argued that the district’s dispute with local police departments over its requirement that officers participate in diversity training — an impasse that resulted in some departments leaving schools without resource officers — had left students vulnerable.
    Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The department's new contract with the SAT administrator is for four years, with options for five additional one-year extensions.
    Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 24 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Henrikson questions the severity of Rupert’s punishment.
    Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 26 Sep. 2025
  • To censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective, and a form of collective punishment.
    Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The reports obtained by The Post show a barrage of complaints from youth that staff used excessive force during restraints or other physical management responses at the state’s 14 facilities.
    Sam Tabachnik, Denver Post, 26 Sep. 2025
  • But Trump in his second term has discarded any remaining shreds of conservative restraint (small government?
    Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The incident was caught on camera Thursday at an immigration court in New York City – fueling outrage as more families across the US get punished after showing up to their immigration court hearings.
    Gloria Pazmino, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025
  • When an authority is actively suppressing or punishing speech itself, the space open to debate gets much smaller very quickly.
    Elizabeth Shackelford, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Evans said building a new parking garage near downtown would cost over $20 million, and that space is limited in the area for new lots or parking structures.
    Victoria Moorwood, Cincinnati Enquirer, 29 Sep. 2025
  • The reflector shield’s diameter is just less than 32 inches, and the hottest areas are typically within a few feet of the base.
    Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Trump could have faced up to four years in prison, but a judge issued an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction in place but sparing him any penalty or fine.
    Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Of course, Piastri wasn’t in the race to serve the penalty.
    Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Colonial repression and factionalism divided nationalists and left them fighting bitterly over who were the true heirs to the March First Movement.
    Kornel Chang September 19, Literary Hub, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Developed with Portugal’s Dança em Diálogos and premiered abroad last spring, the work transforms stories of repression into dance, underscoring art’s power to resist authoritarian control.
    Sean Erwin, Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • What elements reveal its cultural context?
    Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2025
  • For one, the Lidia thong design was rendered with in an anaconda print in a bold tangerine hue, but other versions played with cork or raffia elements, in addition to leather.
    Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Discipline.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discipline. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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