castigate

[kas-ti-geyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR castigate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), cas·ti·gat·ed, cas·ti·gat·ing.

to criticize or reprimand severely.

to punish in order to correct.

Nearby words

Origin of castigate

1600–10; < Latin castīgātus literally, driven to be faultless (past participle of castigāre to chasten), equivalent to cast(us) pure, chaste + -īg-, combining form of agere to drive, incite + -ātus -ate¹

SYNONYMS FOR castigate

1. scold, reprove. 2. discipline, chastise, chasten.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR castigate ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

cas·ti·ga·tion, nouncas·ti·ga·tive, cas·ti·ga·to·ry

[kas-ti-guh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /ˈkæs tɪ gəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectivecas·ti·ga·tor, nounnon·cas·ti·gat·ing, adjective

non·cas·ti·ga·tion, nounself-cas·ti·gat·ing, adjectiveself-cas·ti·ga·tion, nounun·cas·ti·gat·ed, adjectiveun·cas·ti·ga·tive, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for castigate

“You can castigate the leaders; you can try and divide us by generation,” he said.
Sharpton Recalls Civil Rights Struggle in DC March Against Police Violence|Ben Jacobs|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gingrich also scored points with the media elite that he loves to castigate.
Newt Gingrich Doubles Down in Defending Stance on Illegal Immigration|Howard Kurtz|November 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Matt Bennett, of the Democratic group Third Way, expects Democrats to castigate the Tea Party as “reckless.”
Tea Party’s Next Targets|Daniel Stone, Eleanor Clift|August 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Except for Forster and other pupils of Oughtred who urged him on to castigate Delamain, the controversy might never have arisen.
On the History of Gunter's Scale and the Slide Rule during the Seventeenth Century|Florian Cajori

It is a new road to happiness, if you have strength enough to castigate a little the various impulses that sway you in turn.
Winds Of Doctrine|George Santayana
Others tried to use the disasters to castigate the sins of society.
Medieval People|Eileen Edna Power
I thought to castigate a libertine, and I have been, I fear, lacerating the heart of a true gentleman!
By Birth a Lady|George Manville Fenn
I had to castigate one of the ringleaders myself—Herapath by name, claiming kinship with you, by the way.
The Master of the Shell|Talbot Baines Reed

British Dictionary definitions for castigate

castigate

verb

(tr) to rebuke or criticize in a severe manner; chastise

Derived Formscastigation, nouncastigator, nouncastigatory, adjective

Word Origin for castigate

C17: from Latin castīgāre to correct, punish, from castum pure + agere to compel (to be)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for castigate

castigate

c.1600, from Latin castigatus, past participle of castigare "to correct, set right; purify; chastise, punish," from castus "pure" (see caste) + agere "to do" (see act (n.)). The notion behind the word is "make someone pure by correcting or reproving him."