Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CHASTEN
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pronounce
CHASTEN:
Say it "CHASE un."
It rhymes with "Jason."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
If you don't mind profanity, check out this funny Penny Arcade strip about a dentist named Dr. Chasten. It offers a great definition of the word chasten: "to correct [someone] through punishment or suffering."
Chasten has a few close synonyms we've checked out before. See if you can recall them:
1. To ch____se people is to punish them lightly with words, so that you teach them the right thing to do.
2. More harshly, to cas___ate people is to punish them heavily with words or criticize them sharply.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
In Latin, castus means "pure" and gave us our English words "chaste" (meaning "morally pure") and "chasten" (originally meaning "to make someone morally pure").
To chasten people is to try to purify them or correct their behavior by punishing them or telling them what they did wrong.
Put another way, to chasten people is to make them aware that they did something bad (and that they need to do better next time).
More loosely, to chasten people is to let them know that they went too far and that they need to dial down their behavior or their methods.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Verb, the transitive kind: "She chastened them;" "They chastened us for doing that;" "Nope, their failures haven't chastened them at all."
Other forms:
Chastened, chastening; chastenment, chastener(s); chasteningly.
how to use it:
Pick the formal, semi-common word "chasten" when you want to emphasize how someone needs to cool it (or otherwise do better). We often use this word in the passive, or as a participial: "He appeared in the doorway, chastened." "They were chastened by their low scores."
Very often, it's people who chasten each other, often for some bad or incorrect behavior: "She chastened the children for their carelessness;" "I chastened myself for my carelessness."
But things, too, can chasten people, such as their failures, their unpleasant experiences, or their punishments or consequences that followed their behavior. "Chastened by their loss, the team members walked with a little less swagger." "Chastened by the long, boring detentions, we decided it wasn't worth it to break the dress code."
examples:
"My parents chastened me for not having a relationship with Jesus Christ... Which really confused me because I think being moral, being good, would actually be the only thing [the] Mormon version of Heavenly father would care about."
— Shintengo, Reddit.com, 25 November 2021
"Perhaps it should have been obvious to Twitter that China was running a disinformation campaign — it was paying Twitter to do so... Properly chastened by all of this, Twitter said today it would no longer accept ads from state-controlled media."
— Casey Newton, The Verge, 20 August 2019
has this page helped you understand "chasten"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "chasten" without saying "rebuke" or "berate."
try it out:
If you've read Roald Dahl's Matilda, you might remember the part where, after her father infuriates her with his abusive behavior, Matilda teaches him a lesson by making him Superglue his own hat to his head:
"There was comparative calm in the Wormwood household for about a week after the Superglue episode. The experience had clearly chastened Mr Wormwood and he seemed temporarily to have lost his taste for boasting and bullying."
With that in mind as an example, talk about some other instance (real or fictional) of someone acting chastened after a defeating experience. If only temporarily.
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Apt Adjective Anagrams!
I'll invent a person's name and a brief description, and you unscramble the letters in their name to form an adjective that aptly describes the person or the person's situation.
For example: Carl Rebe has three advanced degrees. You rearrange the letters in "Carl Rebe" to form the adjective "cerebral," meaning "brainy, smart, or intellectual.” Sentimental movies always bring Martin Devesto to tears? He’s demonstrative. Lilian Tulip is dainty in the extreme? She’s lilliputian. Tia Fauns runs a sweatshop and is filthy rich? Perhaps she made a bargain with the devil, because her lifestyle is Faustian.
To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
Try this one today: It's so easy to talk with Abe Lima. He always has a warm smile for everyone.
review this word:
A. EMBARKING.
B. ENCOURAGING.
C. ENCAPSULATING (condensing or summarizing).
2.
After _____, Hagrid chastens himself: "_____."
A. hatching a baby dragon .. Look! He knows his mummy! Hello, Norbert
B. letting a secret slip out .. Shouldn't have said that, should not have said that
C. advising Harry and Ron to be better friends to Hermione in spite of her horrid cat .. Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou' their pets
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A 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.
If you don't mind profanity, check out this funny Penny Arcade strip about a dentist named Dr. Chasten. It offers a great definition of the word chasten: "to correct [someone] through punishment or suffering."
In Latin, castus means "pure" and gave us our English words "chaste" (meaning "morally pure") and "chasten" (originally meaning "to make someone morally pure").
Part of speech:
Pick the formal, semi-common word "chasten" when you want to emphasize how someone needs to cool it (or otherwise do better). We often use this word in the passive, or as a participial: "He appeared in the doorway, chastened." "They were chastened by their low scores."
"My parents chastened me for not having a relationship with Jesus Christ... Which really confused me because I think being moral, being good, would actually be the only thing [the] Mormon version of Heavenly father would care about."
Explain the meaning of "chasten" without saying "rebuke" or "berate."
If you've read Roald Dahl's Matilda, you might remember the part where, after her father infuriates her with his abusive behavior, Matilda teaches him a lesson by making him Superglue his own hat to his head:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |