verb
Other Word Forms
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.
Webb was able to take on some of Hong Kong’s most powerful constituencies and castigate regulatory authorities for letting corporate governance issues fester.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
"You will be the same person that will castigate us if we acquiesce to accepting Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria," he added.
From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025
Mr. Cooper called in to “Geraldo” to argue that he was not at fault, and to castigate his son.
From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2023
“There is a desire everywhere to castigate those who are in power,” said Alberto Vergara, a political scientist at the University of the Pacific in Peru.
From Washington Post • May 29, 2022
It probably misses the point, though, to castigate McCandless for being ill prepared.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
