CASTIGATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does castigate mean? 

• CASTIGATE (verb)
  The verb CASTIGATE has 2 senses:

1. censure severely

2. inflict severe punishment on

  Familiarity information: CASTIGATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CASTIGATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they castigate    ... he / she / it castigates   
Past simple: castigated   
Past participle: castigated   
-ing form: castigating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Censure severely

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

castigate; chasten; chastise; correct; objurgate

Context example:

She chastised him for his insensitive remarks

Hypernyms (to "castigate" is one way to...):

bawl out; berate; call down; call on the carpet; chew out; chew up; chide; dress down; have words; jaw; lambast; lambaste; lecture; rag; rebuke; remonstrate; reprimand; scold; take to task; trounce (censure severely or angrily)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "castigate"):

flame (criticize harshly, usually via an electronic medium)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

castigation (verbal punishment)

castigation (a severe scolding)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Inflict severe punishment on

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "castigate" is one way to...):

penalise; penalize; punish (impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

castigation (verbal punishment)