Chastise

/tʃæˈstaɪz/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To punish, especially by corporal punishment..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To punish, especially by corporal punishment.
2. (transitive) To castigate; to scold or censure.

Example Sentences

And now whereas my father did lade you with a heauy yoke, I wil adde to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whippes, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

An army was sent to chastise an unoffending people; to subdue an imaginary insurrection.

Thus only the husband is in a position to chastise her, for his own relatives may not exert any physical force over her.

If even Israel, the people chosen to be God’s own, scorned and neglected the values God had revealed to be what God willed and desired, then God would marshal the forces of history to chastise them.

“There is a man who must be chastised,” she says softly, lightly. “Chastised in a physical way. It should not be difficult. Not for you.”

She feels definitely that Lung Shing is her town, and is not hesitant to chastise people who she thinks are not behaving properly—such as, for example, a woman using loud, vulgar language on the street—although in so doing she may only turn the direction of abuse on herself.

Only last year Attorney General Edwin Meese chastised the Supreme Court for a series of decisions based on the legal doctrine of “indoctrination”—that is, that the 14th Amendment requires the states to respect the prohibitions on abuse of power that the Bill of Rights had originally applied to the federal government.

My urban, academic friends chastise me for romanticizing rural life.

Synonyms for chastise

Antonyms for chastise

Related Words

Word Forms

• chastises
• chastising
• chastised
• chastize

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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