Meanings
present singular third person castigates · participle present castigating · participle past castigated · past castigated
- formaltransitiveTo punish or reprimand someone severely.
Perhaps disarmed by his own scandalous behaviour with Bathsheba, he was in no position to castigate his son for a similar fault.
1999, Robert P. Gordon, I & II Samuel: A Commentary, Zondervan, page 264Synonyms: rebuke, reprimand, chasten, chastise, admonish, animadvert, bash, bawl out
- formaltransitiveTo execrate or condemn something in a harsh manner, especially by public criticism.
God doth indurate, when hee doth not by and by caſtigate a ſynner.
1573, The Whole Workes of W. Tyndall, Iohn Frith, and Doct. Barnes, Three Worthy Martyrs And Principall Teachers of this Churche of England, Iohn Daye, page 2804 more examples
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.
1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill, The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977, page 261But 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.
2016, Halil Berktay, Suraiya Faroqhi, New Approaches to State and Peasant in Ottoman History, Routledge, page 150Lewis 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.
2001, Klaus R. Scherer, Angela Schorr, Tom Johnstone, Appraisal Processes in Emotion: Theory, Methods, Research, Oxford University Press, page 59From the outset, this issue becomes an often double-edged sword wherein Japan is both valorized and castigated.
2012, James King, Under Foreign Eyes: Western Cinematic Adaptations of Postwar Japan, John Hunt Publishing, page 1Synonyms: condemn, lambaste, admonish, animadvert, bash, bawl out, tilt, clobber
comparative more castigate · superlative most castigate
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo punish or reprimand someone severely.
verbTo execrate or condemn something in a harsh manner, especially by public criticism.
More synonyms by meaning
verbcensure severely
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱes-“to cut”
- Latincastīgātus
- Englishcastigate
First attested in the beginning of the 17ᵗʰ century; borrowed from Latin castīgātus, perfect passive participle of castīgō (“to reprove”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from castus (“pure, chaste”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”). Doublet of chastise and chasten, taken through Old French. See also chaste.
More words from Latin, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian наказвам, порицавам
- наказвам (nakazvam)to punish or reprimand someone severely
- порицавам (poricavam)to punish or reprimand someone severely
- осъждам (osăždam)to criticize something severely
- критикувам (kritikuvam)to criticize something severely
Czech kárat, pokárat
- káratto punish or reprimand someone severely
- pokáratto punish or reprimand someone severely
- kritizovatto punish or reprimand someone severely
- plísnitto punish or reprimand someone severely
- vyplísnitto punish or reprimand someone severely
- kritizovatto criticize something severely
French châtier, réviser
- châtierto punish or reprimand someone severely
- réviserto revise a publication
- corrigerto revise a publication
German bestrafen, strafen
- bestrafento punish or reprimand someone severely
- strafento punish or reprimand someone severely
- revidierento revise a publication
- korrigierento revise a publication
Indonesian menegur, mengecam
- menegurto punish or reprimand someone severely
- mengecamto punish or reprimand someone severely
- mencelato criticize something severely
- mengkritikto criticize something severely
- mengecamto criticize something severely
Latin castīgō
- castīgōto punish or reprimand someone severely
Polish (srogo) karcić, strofować
- (srogo) karcićto punish or reprimand someone severely
- strofowaćto punish or reprimand someone severely
- (ostro) potępiaćto criticize something severely
- krytykowaćto criticize something severely
- piętnowaćto criticize something severely
- poprawićto revise a publication
- korygowaćto revise a publication
Portuguese repreender, castigar
- repreenderto punish or reprimand someone severely
- castigarto punish or reprimand someone severely
- criticar duramenteto criticize something severely
- criticar severamenteto criticize something severely
Russian кори́ть, нака́зывать
- кори́ть (korítʹ)to punish or reprimand someone severely
- нака́зывать (nakázyvatʹ)to punish or reprimand someone severely
- кара́ть (karátʹ)to punish or reprimand someone severely
- осужда́ть (osuždátʹ)to criticize something severely
- критикова́ть (kritikovátʹ)to criticize something severely
Slovak karhať, dohovárať
- karhaťto punish or reprimand someone severely
- dohováraťto punish or reprimand someone severely
- odsudzovaťto criticize something severely
- ostro kritizovaťto criticize something severely
Spanish reprender, castigar
- reprenderto punish or reprimand someone severely
- castigarto punish or reprimand someone severely
- criticar duramenteto criticize something severely
- criticar severamenteto criticize something severely
- censurarto criticize something severely
Swedish tukta
- tuktato punish or reprimand someone severely
Ukrainian карати, засуджувати
- карати (karaty)to punish or reprimand someone severely
- засуджувати (zasudžuvaty)to criticize something severely
- критикувати (krytykuvaty)to criticize something severely
- виправляти (vypravljaty)to revise a publication
- коригувати (koryhuvaty)to revise a publication
Cite this entry
castigate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castigate
“castigate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castigate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “castigate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castigate.
Source: castigate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.