chastise
to scold or punish sharply
Roots
- ag / act: do, drive, or set in motion
- cast / chast: pure, correct, or made clean
Other words with the ag / act root
- act: to do something
- action: the act or process of doing something
- agency: ability to act or an organization
- agenda: a list of things to be done
- agent: a person or thing that acts
- agitate: to stir up or drive into motion
- castigate: to criticize or punish severely
- castigation: severe criticism or punishment
Other words with the cast / chast root
- castigate: to criticize or punish severely
- castigation: severe criticism or punishment
- chaste: pure or restrained
Chastise carries correction with a sting: someone is being sharply set right.
The coach chastised the team for ignoring the safety rule.
Chastise and castigation come from a family where correction once leaned toward making pure or setting right. In modern use, the word is sharper: scolding, criticism, or punishment.