castigate — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To punish or reprimand someone severely.

   Usage

   • Formal
   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   rebukereprimandchastenchastise

   Examples

   Perhaps disarmed by his own scandalous behaviour with Bathsheba, he was in no position to castigate his son for a similar fault.

2. To execrate or condemn something in a harsh manner, especially by public criticism.

   Usage

   • Formal
   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   condemnlambaste

   Examples

   God doth indurate, when hee doth not by and by caſtigate a ſynner.

   More examples (2)

   The curse of avarice and cupidity / Is all my sermon, for it frees the pelf. / Out come the pence, and specially for myself, / For my exclusive purpose is to win / And not at all to castigate their sin.

   But despite all this, for Barkan, the universalist notion of an 'Ottoman feudalism' was anathema: he castigated this idea as the concentrated expression of the anti-Ottomanism of the Kemalist Enlightenment.

   Lewis should have castigated the reasoning employed rather than the emotion, which offers no clue as to which side of the argument a person will adopt.

   More examples (1)

   From the outset, this issue becomes an often double-edged sword wherein Japan is both valorized and castigated.

3. To revise or make corrections to a publication.

   Usage

   • Rare
   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   correctrevise

Adjective

1. Subdued, chastened, moderated

   Usage

   • Obsolete

2. Revised and emended

   Usage

   • Obsolete

Verb

1. censure severely

   Synonyms

   chastiseobjurgatechastencorrect

   Broader terms

   call on the carpettake to taskrebukeragtrouncelecturereprimandjawdress downcall downscoldchideberatebawl outremonstratechew outchew uphave wordslambastelambast

   Examples

   She chastised him for his insensitive remarks

2. inflict severe punishment on

   Broader terms

   punishpenalizepenalise