Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To punish, as by beating. See Synonyms at punish.
- v. To criticize severely; rebuke.
- v. Archaic To purify.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To inflict pain upon by stripes, blows, or otherwise, for the purpose of punishing and recalling to duty; punish for the purpose of amending; correct or reclaim by punishment.
- To discipline; instruct; correct the errors or faults of.
- To reduce to submission; tame.
- To restrain or refine by discipline; free from faults or excesses.
- Synonyms Punish, Chasten, Chastise. To punish is primarily and chiefly to inflict pain upon, as a retribution for misdeeds, the notion of improving the offender being absent or quite subordinate. Chasten, on the other hand, implies that the reformation of the offender is the aim of the punishment inflicted. The word is not now often used of human acts; it is a biblical word for the providential discipline of man: as, “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Heb. xii. 6); and such expressions as “the chastening influence of sorrow” are in use. Chastise is a dignified word for corporal punishment, combining in nearly equal degrees the notions of desert and correction.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To inflict pain upon, by means of stripes, or in any other manner, for the purpose of punishment or reformation; to punish, as with stripes.
- v. To reduce to order or obedience; to correct or purify; to free from faults or excesses.
- v. To criticize (a person) strongly and directly in order to correct behavior.
WordNet 3.0
- v. censure severely
Etymologies
- Old French chastier, from Latin castigo (Wiktionary)
- Middle English chastisen, alteration of chasten, chastien; see chasten. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word chastise here means to scourge or to whip.”
“One thing he didn't do, and has never done, was 'chastise' the troops, and as regards morale, I was a GI in Vietnam in 1971, and will happily report that for me and those around me, the knowledge that people in the States were speaking up on our behalf and testifying about the insanity that surrounded us was one of the few bright spots on the morale front.”
“On the other hand, why is it the governor's duty to "chastise" her church ( "Naughty church!"?) on theological points?”
“Not according to a title search for the word "chastise".”
“The remark had not been intended to chastise Samuelson for his boast or to disparage the talents and industry of his campaign staff and the pride that was their due.”
“Israel did something stupid here, and you can chastise them for it (and should) regardless of how you feel about their policies.”
“As we chastise Libya and other tottering Arab fiefdoms, we draw closer to Sudan, a police state given the bottom ranking by Freedom House 5, one of the nine most ghastly places on earth.”
“In the decision today, Justice Karmeier seemed to chastise Senate leaders for overreaching:”
Major Hurdle May Be Cleared for Illinois Senate Appointment - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
“Instead of calling police, they form a circle around the perpetrator and chastise him or her or chase him or her out into the rest of the city to do who knows what to who knows whom," Mr. Bloomberg said.”
The Wall Street Journal: Wall Street Protesters Are Opting for Trials
“You chastise gamers for being “stupid” and developers for catering to that stupidity, just because they value the way a game looks over its intellectual aspects.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘chastise’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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501
Classic
abhor, mirth, obtuse, iota, vex, irk, teem, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane and 401 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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501
Classic
bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august and 401 more...
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Rlist
voracious, indiscriminate, steeped, replete, eminent, prognosticate, abound, automaton, paradoxical, chronoloigical, annal, amateur and 81 more...
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Shakespeare.06
topple, disjoint, cistern, contend, prate, mischance, gruel, sear, loon, chastise, frieze, reconcile and 3 more...
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Censure (v.)
Someone must have had an inferiority complex.
vituperate, vilify, trounce, traduce, slander, scold, revile, reprove, reprimand, reprehend, remonstrate, rebuke and 37 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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September Words-11849
During the month of September, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has...
psilocybin, raca, schema, myriad, copacetic, chastise, fractal, tourniquet, turncoat, vicarious, surreptitiously, clandestine and 34 more...
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magoosh1
aberration, aboveboard, abysmal, ace, affable, aghast, alacrity, ambiguous, ambivalent, ameliorate, amenable, amiable and 215 more...
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SAT words
abase, abate, abet, abject, abjure, abrogate, abscond, abstruse, accolade, accommodating, accost, accretion and 202 more...
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Words
Playa
schadenfreude, quixotic, serendipity, loquacious, ubiquitous, aforementioned, inherently, superfluous, dissonance, tersely, poignant, plethora and 108 more...
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My preparation
for GRE ofcourse
morbid, disparate, incipient, exonerate, engross, ebullient, predilection, propensity, allure, qualms, chastise, perpetuate and 111 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for chastise.

mkluver1 Regardless, she did not mean to chastise me for it. book is Blood Promise by Richelle Mean on page 485. Sep 27, 2010