chaste
Americanadjective
-
refraining from sexual intercourse that is regarded as contrary to morality or religion; virtuous.
- Synonyms:
- continent
- Antonyms:
- immoral
-
not engaging in sexual relations; celibate.
-
free from obscenity; decent.
chaste conversation.
- Antonyms:
- coarse
-
undefiled or stainless.
chaste, white snow.
- Synonyms:
- unsullied
-
pure in style; not excessively ornamented; simple.
- Synonyms:
- neat, unaffected
- Antonyms:
- ornate
-
Obsolete. not married.
adjective
-
not having experienced sexual intercourse; virginal
-
abstaining from sexual intercourse, esp that which is unlawful or immoral
-
(of conduct, speech, etc) pure; decent; modest
-
(of style or taste) free from embellishment; simple; restrained
Usage
What does chaste mean? Chaste is most commonly used to describe someone who refrains from sexual activity that’s considered immoral, especially according to the teachings of a certain religion. The state or quality of being chaste is chastity. The word chaste can also be used to describe someone who refrains from all sexual activity—someone who is celibate. When members of certain religions take a vow of chastity, this is usually what it means. Chaste can also be used in a more general way to mean morally pure. Example: When I went to Catholic high school, my religion teachers always emphasized the virtue of being chaste.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chaste
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin castus “clean, pure, chaste”
Explanation
If you belong to a chastity club, you might have to take a pledge to be chaste until marriage. Chaste can be defined as "pure and virtuous," but basically it means "not having sex." This word is related to the Latin source of the verb castrate "to remove a man's testicles," so it's definitely related to sex. And chaste is from the same Latin source as the noun caste "a Hindu social class separated from other classes." So the word chaste means no sex, and the word caste means pure and virtuous.
Vocabulary lists containing chaste
Mythology
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The Merchant of Venice
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The Odyssey
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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.
See Examples For:
Jesus is widely thought to have never married and to have lived a chaste life.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
He called it “an excellent example of the Midcentury Modern style,” noting its Googie-style sign, “simple geometric volumes, low sloped roof, relatively chaste exterior walls and decorative concrete blocks.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025
K-dramas are famously chaste, which is part of their global appeal.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2023
Still, these were details ABC might have accounted for before constructing the sensitive, chaste gentleman fantasy that made everyone weak in the knees.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2023
“Your lady may prefer this. It’s a superior article, a most desirable color, quite chaste and genteel,” he said, shaking out a comfortable gray shawl, and throwing it over Jo’s shoulders.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
France, so we are told, purged and purified by the baptism of fire, shook off its tasteless frippery, and sought a chaster and purer mode....
From Paris from the Earliest Period to the Present Day; Volume 1 by Walton, William
While others dream Strong flatt'ries on a fain'd or borrow'd theam, Thou shalt remaine in thine owne lustre bright, And adde unto 't LUCASTA'S chaster light.
From The Lucasta Poems by Lovelace, Richard
A fairer virgin never saw the sun; A chaster maid was never sworn a nun.
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 8 by Hazlitt, William Carew
This school—except in so far as Cicero had criticized it for going to extremes—had not yet been effectively challenged by the rising generation of the chaster Atticists.
From Vergil A Biography by Frank, Tenney
A clear Canadian night, appearing a new and chaster version of the day, greeted her.
From The Advocate by Heavysege, Charles
For decades Bollywood produced the chastest of films: boy met girl, but there were no kisses, hips only thrust during dance numbers, and the audience knew that romance would be followed by marriage.
From Time Magazine Archive
‘The chastest poet and royalest, Vergilius Maro, that to the memory of man is known.’
From Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Luce, Edmund
A pretty maid of Bannalec, white coiffe and scarlet skirts a-flutter, called out with the broad freedom of the chastest of nations: “There is the lover I could pray for—if he can dance the farandole!”
From The Maids of Paradise by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)
Into that tender breast at night The chastest stars may peep.
From Later Poems by Meynell, Alice Christiana Thompson
Skilful artists thou employest, And in chastest beauty joyest— Forms most delicate, pure, and clear, Frost-caught starbeams fallen sheer In the night, and woven here In jewel-fretted tapestries.
From The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 by Ontario. Ministry of Education
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.
