castigation

American  

[kas-ti-gey-shuhn] / ˌkæs tɪˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. severe criticism or harsh scolding; censure.

   The speaker segued inexplicably from a calm informational tone into a full-throated castigation of anyone and everyone associated with the administration.

   The impassioned responses to my essay range from ardent appreciation to virulent castigation.

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Other Word Forms

• noncastigation noun
• self-castigation noun

Etymology

Origin of castigation

First recorded in 1350–1400, for an earlier sense; from Latin castīgātiōn-, stem of castīgātiō “chastisement, a chastening,” from castigāre “to chasten”; castigate ( def. ), -ion ( def. )

Explanation

If your coach yells at your team for sloppy play, her post-game speech might be called a castigation. A castigation is a harsh verbal reprimand. No one likes to be on the receiving end of castigation. The word comes from the Latin castigus which means "to make pure." Try to remember during castigation that the castigator is, in their own misguided way, trying to make you a better person. But that may be hard to think of when someone is bawling you out.

Example Sentences

“Then use the media’s castigation of you for keeping your mouth shut as a dog whistle to the base?” she added.

From New York Times • May 25, 2022

So the castigation and exclusion of so many of us feels jarring.

From Washington Post • Aug. 20, 2021

He said, especially given the Astros’ behavior during a 2017 season in which they defeated the Dodgers in the World Series, Kelly’s castigation didn’t feel just.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 30, 2020

The Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations feared castigation for applying a second-century technology to a twentieth- and twenty-first-century problem.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2019

Succeeding his castigation, it was all of a week before Mr Swinton could make appearance upon the streets—during daylight.

From The Child Wife by Reid, Mayne