Definition of "self-flagellation" []

• The act of severely criticizing oneself. (noun)
• The act of punishing oneself. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "“You don’t call self-flagellation a form of pride?”"
• "Otherwise your unfailing commitment will only lead to self-flagellation."
• "Even voters who are not directly impoverished by the cuts and who know the boom was unsustainable everyone sort of knew will tolerate only so much collective self-flagellation before soothing themselves with nostalgia."