castigate

/ˈkæs.tɪ.ɡeɪt/

Etymology

First attested in the beginning of the 17ᵗʰ century; borrowed from Latin castīgātus, perfect passive participle of castīgō (“to reprove”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from castus (“pure, chaste”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”). Doublet of chastise and chasten, taken through Old French. See also chaste.

castigate means subdued, chastened, moderated. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 78 out of 100.

Why this word is great

CASTIGATE — [Verb] To reprimand or punish someone severely, especially by harsh public criticism. From Latin castīgātus, past participle of castīgāre ("to correct, reprove"), from castus ("pure, chaste"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- ("to cut"). Unlike "chasten," which aims to humble and temper, or "reprimand," which delivers a formal and often private rebuke, to castigate is to wield a moral scalpel with public theatricality. It is the editorial that flays a politician's hypocrisy, the sermon that holds a soul up to congregational contempt, or the critic's review that meticulously dissects a work to expose its sins—a ritual of purification where the wound is the lesson.

adj

Subdued, chastened, moderated
Revised and emended

verb

To punish or reprimand someone severely.“Perhaps disarmed by his own scandalous behaviour with Bathsheba, he was in no position to castigate his son for a similar fault.”
To execrate or condemn something in a harsh manner, especially by public criticism.“God doth indurate, when hee doth not by and by caſtigate a ſynner.”
To revise or make corrections to a publication.