chaste
Americanadjective
-
refraining from sexual intercourse that is regarded as contrary to morality or religion; virtuous.
- Synonyms:
- continent
- Antonyms:
- immoral
-
not engaging in sexual relations; celibate.
-
free from obscenity; decent.
chaste conversation.
- Antonyms:
- coarse
-
undefiled or stainless.
chaste, white snow.
- Synonyms:
- unsullied
-
pure in style; not excessively ornamented; simple.
- Synonyms:
- neat, unaffected
- Antonyms:
- ornate
-
Obsolete. not married.
adjective
-
not having experienced sexual intercourse; virginal
-
abstaining from sexual intercourse, esp that which is unlawful or immoral
-
(of conduct, speech, etc) pure; decent; modest
-
(of style or taste) free from embellishment; simple; restrained
Usage
What does chaste mean? Chaste is most commonly used to describe someone who refrains from sexual activity that’s considered immoral, especially according to the teachings of a certain religion. The state or quality of being chaste is chastity. The word chaste can also be used to describe someone who refrains from all sexual activity—someone who is celibate. When members of certain religions take a vow of chastity, this is usually what it means. Chaste can also be used in a more general way to mean morally pure. Example: When I went to Catholic high school, my religion teachers always emphasized the virtue of being chaste.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chaste
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin castus “clean, pure, chaste”
Explanation
If you belong to a chastity club, you might have to take a pledge to be chaste until marriage. Chaste can be defined as "pure and virtuous," but basically it means "not having sex." This word is related to the Latin source of the verb castrate "to remove a man's testicles," so it's definitely related to sex. And chaste is from the same Latin source as the noun caste "a Hindu social class separated from other classes." So the word chaste means no sex, and the word caste means pure and virtuous.
Vocabulary lists containing chaste
Mythology
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The Merchant of Venice
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The Odyssey
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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.
See Examples For:
Jesus is widely thought to have never married and to have lived a chaste life.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
K-dramas are famously chaste, which is part of their global appeal.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2023
Still, these were details ABC might have accounted for before constructing the sensitive, chaste gentleman fantasy that made everyone weak in the knees.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2023
Apart from the central metaphor, its LGBTQ+-ness is expressed in brief, chaste moments of closeness between the two main male characters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
“Be moderate in your desires, Ophelia. Bridle your tongue, and lock up your chaste treasure,” Elnora warned.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
For where can we find any one who is chaster than this young man? who is more modest? where have we among our youth a more illustrious example of the old-fashioned strictness?
From The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 4 by Marcus Tullius Cicero
His taste was much simpler, chaster, and disinclined to the florid and ornamental, than that of Cicero.
From The Caesars by Thomas De Quincey
You are the noblest among noble men, and finer soldiers than the Russians, and a chaster woman than the Empress Elizabeth, are not to be found anywhere.
From The Merchant of Berlin An Historical Novel by L. (Luise) Mühlbach
But it remained for the chaster genius of Addison to banish this painful topic from his elegant pages.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 by Isaac Disraeli
It was among the earliest of the terraces in the Park, and its whimsical contrast with the chaster beauties of the adjoining structures soon became the signal for critical pasquinade.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 367, April 25, 1829 by Various
For decades Bollywood produced the chastest of films: boy met girl, but there were no kisses, hips only thrust during dance numbers, and the audience knew that romance would be followed by marriage.
From Time Magazine Archive
‘The chastest poet and royalest, Vergilius Maro, that to the memory of man is known.’
From Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Edmund Luce
Fair fame, bright honour, virtue firm, rare grace, The chastest beauty in celestial frame,— These be the roots whence birth so noble came.
From The Sonnets, Triumphs, and Other Poems of Petrarch by Thomas Campbell
It were treason to the chastest of hearts, it were sacrilege to the divinest form that ever visited this lower world, but to admit the possibility of Matilda's infidelity.
From Italian Letters, Vols. I and II The History of the Count de St. Julian by William Godwin
Is it because of this lesser sensuous charm that the art of the piano is considered the chastest of all instruments?
From Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered by Josef Hofmann
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.
