What does "scourge" mean?
A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.
Scourge
/skɜːd͡ʒ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.
- Grammar: scourge is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: adversity, afflict, afflict, affliction.
- Useful contrasts: blessing, boon, clemency.
- Usage evidence: Empowered, informed citizens are the scourge of any tyrant.
How to use "scourge"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "scourge" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "scourge" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "scourge" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "scourge" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "scourge" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adversity" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "scourge", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash. historical
"He flogged him with a scourge."
- 2 a whip used to inflict punishment wordnet
- 3 A person or thing regarded as an agent of divine punishment. figuratively
"And therfore the faithfull had neede of inuincible conſtancie and incredible pacience, that they may know them to be gods squorges, and the inſtrumentes of his wrath, […]"
- 4 a person who inspires fear or dread wordnet
- 5 A source of persistent (and often widespread) pain and suffering or trouble, such as a cruel ruler, disease, pestilence, or war. figuratively
"Graffiti is the scourge of building owners everywhere."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 something causing misery or death wordnet
Verb
- 1 To strike (a person, an animal, etc.) with a scourge (noun etymology 1 sense 1) or whip; to flog, to whip. transitive
"Hvng be yͤ heauens vvith black, yield day to night; / Comets importing change of Times and States, / Brandiſh your cryſtall Treſſes in the Skie, / And vvith them ſcourge the bad reuolting Stars, / That haue conſented vnto Henries Death: / King Henry the Fift, too famous to liue long, / England ne're loſt a King of ſo much vvorth."
- 2 cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly wordnet
- 3 To drive, or force (a person, an animal, etc.) to move, with or as if with a scourge or whip. transitive
"So judge thou ſtill, preſumptuous, till the wrauth, / Which thou incurr'ſt by flying, meet thy flight / Seavenfold, and ſcourge that wiſdom back to Hell, / Which taught thee yet no better, that no pain / Can equal anger infinite provok't."
- 4 whip wordnet
- 5 To punish (a person, an animal, etc.); to chastise. figuratively, transitive
"For a Patient and Thankful Heart in Sickness. Whom thou lovest, O Lord, him dost thou chasten, yea, every son that thou receivest, thou scourgest, and in so doing thou offerest thyself unto him, as a father unto his son. For what son is whom the father chasteneth not?"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 punish severely; excoriate wordnet
- 7 To cause (someone or something) persistent (and often widespread) pain and suffering or trouble; to afflict, to torment. figuratively, transitive
"And that the Remonſtrant cannot vvaſh his hands of all the cruelties exercis'd by the Prelats, is paſt doubting. They ſcourg'd the Confeſſors of the Goſpel, and he held the Scourgers garments."
- 8 Of a crop or a farmer: to deplete the fertility of (land or soil). Scotland, figuratively, transitive
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Empowered, informed citizens are the scourge of any tyrant."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "scourge"?
Common synonyms include: adversity, afflict, afflict, affliction, affliction, ambulatory plague.
How do you use "scourge" in a sentence?
Empowered, informed citizens are the scourge of any tyrant.
How do you pronounce "scourge"?
Pronounced /skɜːd͡ʒ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English scourge (“a lash, whip, scourge; affliction, calamity; person who causes affliction or calamity; shoot of a vine”), and then either: * from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge, escurge, or Old French scurge, escourge, escorge, escorgiee, escurge (modern French escourgée (“(archaic) whip made of leather strips”)), either: ** from Vulgar Latin *excoriāta (“strip of hide; a scourge”), from Late Latin excoriāre, the present active infinitive of excoriō (“to strip the skin from, to skin”), from Latin ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + corium (“skin; hide, leather”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)); or ** from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”) (from corrigō (“to make right, correct; to reform”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to righten; to straighten”)); or * from Middle English scourgen (verb) (see etymology 2). Cognates Italian scuriada, scuriata
Etymology 2
From Middle English scourgen (“to whip, scourge; to afflict; to punish”), and then either: * from scourge (noun) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs); or * from Anglo-Norman escorger, and Old French escorgier (“to whip, to scourge”), which are either: ** from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge (noun), etc., or Old French scurge, escourge (noun), etc. + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); or ** from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiō, from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”); or ** directly from Late Latin excoriāre. See further at etymology 1.