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
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Recent Examples of flagellating
His only way of finding any kind of life for himself is to embrace evil, to stop running away from it, to try to stop morally flagellating himself.
—
Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flagellating
Verb
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Quié kept getting up, sitting down, calling out to people in the street, checking on the kitchen, and whipping out his phone to film promotional videos.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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As Aubry points out, Cirie is out there whipping votes and changing almost everyone’s minds.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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His son, Mojtaba, has been appointed to lead the country but remains in hiding.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 2026
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Another click of the 7 o’clock pusher resets everything, hiding the rose-gold hands again.—
Justin Fenner,
Robb Report,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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She has been arrested for slashing her sister’s neck with a box cutter and biting the breast of a security guard outside a nightclub.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
21 Apr. 2026
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While Sunbelt sellers are slashing prices to clear inventory, Ohio sellers are watching their equity grow.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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On his last day before he’s scheduled to ride off on his motorcycle for a three-month sabbatical that’s only barely disguising his suicidal ideation, Robby spends his final shift lashing out at his co-workers.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 2026
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Things are not going well at the moment, so the president is lashing out.—
Steve Lopez,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Maza drew in Hamburg players before flicking the ball on for Kofane, who lashed it into the top-left corner.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
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The name Dekopin in Japanese refers to flicking someone on the forehead with a finger, typically as a lighthearted punishment or joke.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Officials assessed McCollum a technical foul for inadvertently kicking Brunson below the belt while flailing his leg on a fadeaway jump shot in the Knicks’ Game 1 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
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The force was enough to send Romero flailing to the turf, bringing out a yellow card.—
Kyle Kensing,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Examples include a husband having the legal right to restrict his wife’s travel and employment, unequal divorce rights and punishment for appearing in public without a hijab ranging from fines to prison time to flogging.—
Ellie Austin,
Fortune,
21 Jan. 2026
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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
Verb
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But there’s more to at-home extensions than slapping them on the crown of your head and heading out the door.—
Hunter Lacey,
Allure,
9 Apr. 2026
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That means going beyond slapping a flag on packaging in November.—
Peter Su,
Rolling Stone,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flagellating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flagellating. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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