Past tense of castigate; severely criticized, reprimanded, or punished, usually with harsh words or public shaming.
From Latin castigare, from castus (pure) + agere (to drive); the verb entered English in the 16th century with the meaning of harsh correction or punishment.
Public castigation—from biblical shaming to Twitter pile-ons—reveals something deep about human nature: we don't just want wrongdoing stopped, we want the wrongdoer humiliated, which is why public apologies feel necessary even when private correction would work better.
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