Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CASTIGATE

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connect today's word to others: When you castigate people, you're criticizing them, as if to set them right, to make their minds or their actions pure again. Could you explain how castigate is related to chaste and chastity? Here's the root those words share: in Latin, castus means "pure." Purifying someone with words might sound lovely, but castigation is harsh. So are these synonyms:    cen____, the act of blaming people, criticizing them, or showing that you disapprove of them; and    r_pr____ion, the act of saying why people are bad, or why you disapprove of them. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "CASTIGATE" To castigate people is to punish them with words. That is, "castigate" means "to criticize people sharply." Pronunciation: CASS tih gate Part of speech: Transitive verb. (Like "eat," "try," and "want," all transitive verbs do something to an object. You eat a banana, try a game, and want a new phone. Likewise, you castigate someone. Or, rarely, you castigate something.) Other forms: castigated, castigating, castigation, castigator(s), castigatory How to use it: This is a formal word with a harsh tone. Usually, we talk about people castigating other people. You might castigate someone for a reason or for doing something bad: he castigated them for their laziness; she castigated them for ruining the meal. Or you might castigate someone or something as something bad: he castigated the judge as partial and hasty; she castigated her opponent as a spineless waverer; he castigated the program as wasteful and ineffective.  examples: It was hard to assemble an impartial jury for Martin Shkreli; the entire public has castigated him for inflating the prices of life-saving drugs. In every chapter, as the author kept dropping brazenly sexist comments, I wondered if he was inviting castigation on purpose just to generate buzz. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "castigate" means when you can explain it without saying "give someone a tongue-lashing" or "scold someone severely." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "Rather than castigate myself for (some mistake), I'll (try to do better somehow)." Example: "Rather than castigate myself for letting the tomatoes go bad, I'll leave them on the counter next time so I remember to eat them." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: Imagine you just got your order of French fries and you're savoring that first hot, salty bite, when you notice your friend staring at you with hope and longing in her eyes. What's she doing? See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "nidor." Nidor is that delicious smell of food that's cooking, especially meat. For example: "Fajitas sizzled in the pan, and I slowly inhaled their nidor." Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you a new example of nidor, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. The opposite of CASTIGATE is A. PRAISE. B. DIVIDE. C. LEAD. 2. The night crew was castigated _____. A. to busy themselves with cleaning when they weren't serving customers B. for saddling the morning crew with too many complex orders C. as necessary for the safety of the customers Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answer to the game question: She's groaking you. Answers to review questions: 1. A 2. B