flagellant

American  

[flaj-uh-luhnt, fluh-jel-uhnt] / ˈflædʒ ə lənt, fləˈdʒɛl ənt /

noun

1. a person who flagellates or scourges their own body for religious discipline.

2. a person who derives sexual pleasure from whipping or being whipped by another person.

3. (often initial capital letter) one of a medieval European sect of fanatics who practiced scourging in public.

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adjective

1. flagellating.

2. severely criticizing.

   a flagellant attack on the opposition party.

flagellant British  

/ ˈflædʒɪlənt, ˈflædʒɪˌleɪtə, fləˈdʒɛlənt /

noun

1. a person who whips himself or others either as part of a religious penance or for sexual gratification

2. (often capital) (in medieval Europe) a member of a religious sect who whipped themselves in public

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Other Word Forms

• flagellantism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of flagellant

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin flagellant- (stem of flagellāns ) “whipping,” present participle of flagellāre; see flagellum, -ant

Example Sentences

Are we to believe that any response short of becoming a flagellant is inadequate?

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2021

In “The Club,” both the aggressors and the aggrieved keep pouring salt in their own wounds, like the open sores of a flagellant.

From Washington Post • Feb. 18, 2016

And all along I had thought that the Eurozone had done this to themselves because flagellant cults had never really died out in Europe.

From Economist • Apr. 30, 2013

For, as a result of that brief encounter, the bigwigs of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are now immodestly slapping their own backs with the fervor of flagellant monks.

From Time Magazine Archive

Among the monasteries that took in foundlings, one was a flagellant order.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor