chastise

Verb

Verb Forms: chastised, chastising, chastises

• To punish or severely criticize someone for a wrongdoing.
• censure severely
  • "She chastised him for his insensitive remarks"
• To punish, especially by corporal punishment.
• To castigate; to scold or censure.

Examples

• The strict Scrabble judge would CHASTISE players who tried to bend the rules.

Synonyms

castigate, chasten, correct, objurgate, admonish, animadvert, bash, bawl out, berate, berisp, blast, censure, chastise, chew out, chide, condemn, criticize, denounce, denunciate, drag, dress down, eat someone alive, excoriate, find fault, fulminate, get down, get up, give somebody a piece of one's mind, give somebody what-for, inveigh, lace into, lambaste, lecture, light into, pooh-pooh, put someone on blast, rate, read somebody the riot act, rebuke, reprehend, reprimand, reproach, reprove, rip into, rubbish, savage, scold, slam, tear into, tell off, threap, tick off, tosh, upbraid, vilify, vituperate