as in whipping
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
some medieval monks believed it was necessary to flagellate themselves in order to keep their desires in check
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flagellating
Verb
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Sarah Jessica Parker and Amy Sedaris were sitting front row, with Parker whipping out her phone to film Reese.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
16 Oct. 2025 -
While summer may be over, nothing is stopping you from whipping this thing out for the holiday season.—
Wilder Davies,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In December 1978, Gacy confessed to kidnapping, raping and murdering dozens of boys and men, some as young as 14 years old, and hiding many of their bodies in a crawl space under the house.—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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Unlike a killer hiding in the woods, a guy who gets you in your dreams is literally impossible to hide from, and watching our plucky heroine Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) trying to resist sleep presents a new kind of awful torture.—
Gwen Ihnat,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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His slashing playing style caught Lorch’s eye at a tournament in the summer of 1991, and the 13-year-old was soon on a plane with future pros Erick Barkley and Stephon Marbury to an event in Arizona.—
Luke Cyphers,
Sportico.com,
17 Oct. 2025
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Milei has repeatedly wielded a chainsaw on stage to promote slashing spending, but his agenda, which also includes deregulation and free-market reform, has led to a volatile peso currency and seen investors aggressively dump Argentine stocks and bonds.—
Kinsey Crowley,
USA Today,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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What To Know The Philippines' inter-agency National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea on Monday released drone footage showing a Chinese coast guard ship lashing a Philippine boat with its water cannon.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
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Coastal areas of suburban Long Island could see flooding, with up to 3 inches (about 8 centimeters) of rain and lashing winds expected, the weather service said.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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While a wagging dog’s tail might indicate excitement or friendliness, a flicking cat’s tail can signal irritation.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Oct. 2025
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Only the paintings bore witness to her intense, solitary writing sessions, conducted in the studio by night, Stein flicking the pages of her notebooks with hardly a pause, until dawn birdsong disturbed her concentration.—
Francesca Wade,
Air Mail,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This was no ordinary offense that the Dodgers left flailing.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
18 Oct. 2025
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The New York Jets are flailing, still trying to crack the seal for their first win of 2025.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Others have called out the boring marketing campaign based around flogging variants in order for Swift to finally beat the record for the biggest opening sales week for a female artist in history (currently held by Adele, which she is likely projected to break).—
Bianca Davino,
Refinery29,
7 Oct. 2025
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The only thing tougher to watch than the Bengals’ offense on Sunday was Browning flogging himself over the failure.—
Paul Dehner Jr,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
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“Flagellating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flagellating. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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