chasten
Americanverb
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to bring to a state of submission; subdue; tame
-
to discipline or correct by punishment
-
to moderate; restrain; temper
Usage
What does chasten mean? To chasten is to discipline, punish, or severely criticize, especially with the intention of improving someone’s behavior.Chasten has many shades of meaning that are all somewhat similar. It can mean to tame or subdue, or to moderate or restrain someone’s behavior. In all cases, it typically involves some form of discipline or negative consequences for the person being chastened.Chasten is a relatively formal word, and so are its close synonyms (like chastise, castigate, and reprimand), but it’s probably used less commonly than they are.It’s often associated with Christian or other religious language due to its use in some translations of the Bible.Example: My grandfather grew up in a boarding school, where he was chastened for even the most minor infractions.
Other Word Forms
- chastener noun
- chasteningly adverb
- chastenment noun
- unchastened adjective
Etymology
Origin of chasten
1520–30; chaste + -en 1; replacing chaste (v.), Middle English chastien < Old French chastier < Latin castigāre; castigate
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.
With the board that tried to chasten him swapped out, Altman has a lot of leeway to make occasional principled stands while making zillions of dollars, or not.
From Slate • Nov. 27, 2023
People are reminded during a crisis like this that a local newspaper is a central thread that stitches neighbors together with birthday photos that make grandma happy and crime reports that chasten the scofflaw.
From The Guardian • Apr. 6, 2020
Do constant pressures to resign, to chasten the president, to speak up in criticism constitute mental reservations?
From Washington Post • Sep. 6, 2018
Image: ABC There are moments in season 2 where Cooper bounces back into form, but they’re outnumbered by events that exhaust and chasten him, visibly transforming him into a more solemn, internal man.
From The Verge • May 31, 2017
In school Kantorek used to chasten Mittelstaedt with exactly the same expression—“Inadequate, Mittelstaedt, quite inadequate.”
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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.
