objurgate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of objurgate
1610–20; < Latin objūrgātus, past participle of objūrgāre to rebuke, equivalent to ob- ob- + jūrgāre, jurigāre to rebuke, equivalent to jūr- (stem of jūs ) law + -ig-, combining form of agere to drive, do + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
How dare you! To objurgate is to scold or reprimand. Don’t objurgate yourself, or beat yourself up if you didn’t know it — it’s an old word that people don’t use much anymore. To scold — or to express your disgust and condemnation of — is to objurgate, although this useful word has become quite rare. You're more likely to hear someone use words like castigate or reprimand these days. Objurgate comes directly from the Latin obiurgare, "to chide or rebuke."
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:
It is customary to objurgate Thackeray as too moral.
From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2 To the Close of the 19th Century by Saintsbury, George
He found various relishes, condiments, and preserves, and what not, all of which he tasted, some of which he enjoyed, and some of which he seemed to objurgate in choice Kickapoo.
From Stories by American Authors, Volume 3 by Various
Let his fellows grumble and objurgate, said he; they would cringe to him when he became a dragoman, with his pockets stuffed with piastres.
From A Book of Ghosts by Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
If you step on one after nightfall, it will be useless to objurgate.
From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by Bartlett, William Chauncey
And at his confession they shrieked and objurgated him in the pithy rhetoric of the locality.
From The Trimmed Lamp, and other Stories of the Four Million by Henry, O.
If he objurgated the haste, he did it silently.
From Our Pilots in the Air by Brown, William Perry
It has at last come home to the mind of that impetuous and much objurgated dog, Shark, that his destiny in life is to be a boar-hound.
From Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2) or Settler and Maori in Northern New Zealand by Hay, William Delisle
See "Dramatic Idyls", "Pan and Luna" * * * Solomon has objurgated the invincibly garrulous woman.
From Hints for Lovers by Haultain, T. Arnold (Theodore Arnold)
They all objurgated Jimmy for his luck as he drove off.
From The Stowmarket Mystery Or, A Legacy of Hate by Tracy, Louis
They go on, debating, denouncing, objurgating: loud weltering Chaos, which devours itself.
From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas
Then when he felt himself in the right mood, he feverishly improvized the play, laughing over the jokes, weeping over the pathetic moments and objurgating the evil deeds of the more despicable characters.
From How to Write a Play Letters from Augier, Banville, Dennery, Dumas, Gondinet, Labiche, Legouvé, Pailleron, Sardou, Zola by Matthews, Brander
The sailor-man, who had been objurgating straight ahead all this time, now weighed anchor and put the boat in towards shore.
From Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 14, July 2, 1870 by Various
On all sides zealotry raises and shakes a protesting hand; on all sides it shrieks, objurgating, threatening.
From The Book of Khalid by Rihani, Ameen Fares
Then he relieved his feelings by objurgating the panic-stricken Somalis, whose superstitious minds interpreted the appearance of the air-borne host as a sure indication of war.
From The Wheel O' Fortune by Tracy, Louis
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.
