verb
-
to discipline or punish, esp by beating
-
to scold severely
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chastise
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English chastisen, equivalent to chasti(en) “to chasten ” + -s-, of unknown origin + -en infinitive suffix
Explanation
Chastise is a fancy word for telling someone that something they did was really bad. If you pick your nose, your mom will probably yell at you. If you pick your nose in front of the Queen of England, your mom will chastise you. Back in the Middle Ages, chastise used to also come with a beating — that sense of the word has passed, and in fact, people tend to use chastise when they are trying to accuse someone else of overreacting. "You're chastising me for forgetting to feed the cat, but it's not like the cat died!"
Vocabulary lists containing chastise
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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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.
Mr. Johnson served with the RAF’s celebrated 617 Squadron and was a sergeant at the time of the “Dambuster” raid — Operation Chastise — which began before dawn on May 17, 1943.
From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2022
Braving antiaircraft fire, the squadron, based at Scampton, north of London, breached Germany’s Eder and Mōhne dams and damaged the Sorpe Dam in what was formally known as Operation Chastise.
From New York Times • Dec. 8, 2022
Johnson was a 21-year-old bomb aimer on the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, by the Royal Air Force’s famed 617 Squadron.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 8, 2022
Chastise her for leaving, for stealing my father’s money, for doing what she needed to do to survive — just like my birthmother?
From Salon • Jun. 18, 2017
Chastise, chas-tīz′, v.t. to inflict punishment upon for the purpose of correction: to reduce to order or to obedience.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
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.
