flagellation
noun
Simple meaning
Beating as a source of erotic or religious stimulation.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
flajuhlayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈflædʒəˈleɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Beating as a source of erotic or religious stimulation
Beating with a whip or strap or rope as a form of punishment
Beating, or an instance of beating, consisting of lashes, notably as corporal punishment or mortification, such as a whipping or scourging.
botany
The formation by plants of flagella, or their arrangement
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Beating as a source of erotic or religious stimulation
Used this way, flagellation is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Self-punishment inflicted by whipping.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.