castigate
Americanverb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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uncastigatedadjective
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castigationnoun
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uncastigativeadjective
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castigatornoun
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castigativeadjective
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self-castigatingadjective
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castigatoryadjective
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noncastigatingadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have castigatedperfect
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has castigatedperfect 3rd person singular
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is castigatingprogressive 3rd person singular
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castigatessingular 3rd person
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castigatingparticiple
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are castigatingprogressive
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has been castigatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been castigatingperfect progressive
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am castigatingprogressive 1st person singular
Past
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had castigatedperfect
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castigatedsimple
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castigatedparticiple
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were castigatingprogressive plural
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had been castigatingperfect progressive
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was castigatingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of castigate
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin castīgātus literally, “driven to be faultless” (past participle of castigāre “to chasten”), equivalent to cast(us) “pure, clean” + -īg-, combining form of agere “to drive, incite” + -ātus past participle suffix; see chaste, -ate 1
Explanation
Use castigate when you mean "to reprimand in an especially harsh way." If you accidentally spill coffee all over your sister's favorite sweater, you might worry that she's going to castigate you as soon as she finds out. Castigate means punish, and punish harshly, but the punishment is always a severe scolding. Sometimes it means criticize severely. Politicians in the Senate are always castigating each other for their alliances and opinions. Castigate and chasten, which also means "to reprimand" but is less severe, share the Latin root castus which means "pure." Ideally, if you castigate someone, you mean to guide someone away from the wrong path and toward a more pure one. But it sure doesn't feel like that when you're being castigated!
Vocabulary lists containing castigate
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Grade 11, List 6
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Crucify, Castigate and, yes, even if necessary, Calumniate The Process.
From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2019
Castigate, kas′tig-āt, v.t. to chastise: to correct: to punish with stripes.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Castigate and chastise refer strictly to corporal punishment, tho both are somewhat archaic; correct and punish are often used as euphemisms in preference to either.
From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
