From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishchastenchas‧ten /ˈtʃeɪsən/ verb [transitive] formal MISTAKEto make someone realize that their behaviour was wrong or mistaken Party workers have returned to their home towns, chastened by their overwhelming defeat.Grammar Chasten is usually passive. —chastening adjective a chastening experience→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
chasten• Too late to admit us, he stood, chastened, and confessed he'd been knocked out.• His expression seems dour, chastened around the edges.• They were not to be chastened by homilies like children at a Sunday school.• Even Commissioner Shack seemed chastened by the loss.• Military leaders, chastened by Vietnam, have learned to be cautious.• The experience had clearly chastened Mr Wormwood and he seemed temporarily to have lost his taste for boasting and bullying.• Most of them turn up chastened the following morning.Origin chasten (1500-1600) chaste “to chasten” ((12-17 centuries)), from Old French chastier, from Latin castigare; → CASTIGATE 