Word of the Day for Sunday August 7, 2005

Word of the Day for Sunday August 7, 2005

castigate \KAS-tuh-gayt\, transitive verb:
To punish severely; also, to chastise verbally; to rebuke; to
criticize severely.

It was not good enough to castigate him for his sins.
--Frank Deford, "Knight is too easy a target," [1]Sports
Illustrated, May 25, 2000

Out in the world they marvelled that they were found
acceptable to others, after years of being castigated as
unsatisfactory, disappointing.
--Anita Brookner, [2]Falling Slowly

Though castigated by the Catholic Church, illegitimacy was
scarcely an unusual feature of Austrian country life.
--Ian Kershaw, [3]Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris

For my lack of missionary zeal, I have been castigated by a
few militant atheists, who are irritated by my
disinclination to try persuading people to abandon their
faith that God exists (while some religious people regard
me as a militant atheist intent on promoting worship of
unspecified "secular idols").
--Wendy Kaminer, [4]Sleeping With Extra-Terrestrials
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Castigate comes from Latin castigare, "to purify, to correct,
to punish," from castus, "pure."
Synonyms: punish, chastise, rebuke, reprove, reprimand.