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. )

Example Sentences

He described feeling social castigation, and sometimes isolation.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2024

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

But because they went to Mexico City and exercised their protest before the world, they became icons who this month are being celebrated after lives lived so long in castigation.

From Washington Post • Oct. 16, 2018

The driver limped back to his seat, in great amazement at not receiving a severe castigation for his awkwardness.

From Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c. by Hell, Xavier Hommaire de