castigate

[kas-ti-geyt]

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

to criticize or reprimand severely.

to punish in order to correct.

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

Related formscas·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, adjectivenon·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

Synonyms for castigate

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

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

Related Words for castigate

penalize, criticize, pummel, chastise, excoriate, scold, censure, berate, upbraid, lambaste, rebuke, reprimand, lash, punish, flog, blister, discipline, cane, chasten, scourge

Examples from the Web for castigate

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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

Historical Examples of castigate

The woman grasped a clothes-stick with which she proposed to castigate her niece.
Ruth Fielding Down East
Alice B. Emerson
If only I were not a woman, I might castigate you as you deserve!
Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo
Louis Guimbaud
Others tried to use the disasters to castigate the sins of society.
Medieval People
Eileen Edna Power
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
Its declared purpose was "simply to instruct the young, reform the old, correct the town, and castigate the age."
Washington Irving
Charles Dudley Warner

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

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."

If thou didst put this soure cold habit on To castigate thy pride, 'twere well. [Shakespeare, "Timon" IV.iii (1607)]

Related: Castigated; castigating; castigator; castigatory.