Chastise

WORD OF THE DAY

chastise / verb / chass-TYZE

Definition

1a: to censure severely 

1b: castigate

2: to inflict punishment on (as by whipping)

Examples

The boss eventually had to chastise certain employees for being consistently late.

"Strikingly, each time the company encounters another privacy outcry, its initial response is not to own up to the situation, explain, apologize and listen, but rather to chastise its users for daring to ask." 

— Kalev Leetaru, Forbes, 6 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?

Chastise, castigate, chasten, correct, and discipline all imply the infliction of a penalty in return for wrongdoing. Chastise often applies to verbal censure or denunciation ("she chastised her son for neglecting his studies"). 

Castigate usually implies a severe, typically public censure ("an editorial was published castigating the entire city council"), while chasten suggests any affliction or trial that leaves someone humbled or subdued ("chastened by a landslide election defeat"). 

Correct implies punishment aimed at reforming an offender ("the function of prison is to correct the wrongdoer"), and discipline is a punishment intended to bring a wrongdoer under control ("parents disciplining their children").