Standard Lemma guide

chastise

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /tʃæˈstaɪz/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈt͡ʃæstaɪz/
  • General-American: /t͡ʃæˈstaɪz/
  • rhymes with -aɪz
  • CMU ARPABET: CH AE0 S T AY1 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To punish, especially by corporal punishment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chasten, penalize, amerce, castigate, chastise, come down on, correct, fix someone's wagon, have someone's guts for garters, have someone's head, have someone's hide, give it to someone, give someone what for, give what for, gruel, malavogue, nail someone to the wall, penance, punish, tan someone's hide, tar out, teach someone a lesson

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To castigate; to scold or censure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: admonish, animadvert, bash, bawl out, slash, lash, blame, scorch, blast, berate, berisp, castigate, censure, charge, chastise, chew out, chide, condemn, criticize, denounce, denunciate, deprecate, derogate, dispraise, drag, dress down, eat someone alive, excoriate, find fault, fulminate, get at, get down, get up, give somebody a piece of one's mind, give somebody what-for, inveigh, lace into, lambaste, lay into, lecture, light into, objurgate, pooh-pooh, put someone on blast, rate, read somebody the riot act, rebuke, reprehend, reprimand, reproach, reprove, rip into, rubbish, savage, scold, skewer, slam, slate, tear into, tell off, threap, tick off, tosh, keelhaul, upbraid, vilify, vituperate

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

censure severely

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • She chastised him for his insensitive remarks

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: castigate, objurgate, chasten, correct

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: call on the carpet, take to task, rebuke, rag, trounce, reproof, lecture, reprimand, jaw, dress down, call down, scold, chide, berate, bawl out, remonstrate, chew out, chew up, have words, lambaste, lambast

Narrower terms: flame

History

Etymology

From Middle English chastisen, from Old French chastier, from Latin castīgō. See also the doublets chasten and castigate and cf. also chaste.

Across languages

Translations

46 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: нака́звам (nakázvam) — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Bulgarian: би́я (bíja) — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Catalan: amonestar — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Catalan: blasmar — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Chinese Mandarin: 训斥 (xùnchì) — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Czech: trestat — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Czech: potrestat — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Czech: dát co proto — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Danish: tugte — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Finnish: rangaista — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Finnish: ojentaa — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Finnish: kurittaa — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • French: châtier — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • German: züchtigen — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Hungarian: megfenyít — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Hungarian: fenyít — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Hungarian: megbüntet — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Hungarian: büntet — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Irish: ceartaigh — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Italian: castigare — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Portuguese: castigar — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Russian: нака́зывать (nakázyvatʹ) — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Serbo-Croatian: ка̏знити — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Serbo-Croatian: kȁzniti — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Spanish: castigar — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Spanish: regañar — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Spanish: escarmentar — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Swedish: skälla ut — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Swedish: tukta — to punish (someone), especially by corporal punishment
  • Catalan: censurar — to severely scold or censure
  • Catalan: renyar — to severely scold or censure
  • Czech: vyčinit — to severely scold or censure
  • Czech: vynadat — to severely scold or censure
  • Czech: vyplísnit — to severely scold or censure
  • Finnish: nuhdella — to severely scold or censure
  • Finnish: ojentaa — to severely scold or censure
  • Finnish: haukkua — to severely scold or censure
  • Galician: castigar — to severely scold or censure
  • Galician: reprender — to severely scold or censure
  • Hungarian: legorombít — to severely scold or censure
  • Hungarian: lehord — to severely scold or censure
  • Hungarian: ostoroz — to severely scold or censure
  • Hungarian: szemrehányást tesz — to severely scold or censure
  • Spanish: reprehender — to severely scold or censure
  • Spanish: regañar — to severely scold or censure
  • Swedish: näpsa — to severely scold or censure