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Glite Dictionary
to burn at the stake

to burn at the stake

12 9.8
To tie a person to a stake and burn them as punishment or to strongly criticize them in public
  • idiom
  • NSFW
translation icon : quemar en la hoguera
  • I thought of poor Joan, only nineteen when they burned her at the stake.
  • burned witches at the stake
  • burned heretics at the stake
  • burned women at the stake

Yeah, burn them both, burn them alive, burn them at the stake.

Examples

  • Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna and was burned at the stake for refusing to burn incense to the Roman emperor.

    Blog text (13)

  • Did you know that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake when she was only 19?

    Madeline (1998)

  • You tried to burn her at the stake.

    Unconquered (1947)

  • Anyone who would burn someone at the stake is not a saint!

    Blog text (4)

  • I'm gonna be burned at the stake tomorrow.

    Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979)

  • Clarence: They plan to burn you at the stake.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The one bit of progress we might be said to have made is that we don't burn witches at the stake anymore.

    Blog text (16)

  • You know, 300 years ago, you'd have been burned at the stake... - for saying something like that.

    The Ninth Gate (1999)

  • Throughout history, many were unjustly sentenced to burn at the stake for their beliefs.

  • In the past, heretics were often condemned to burn at the stake by the Inquisition.

Synonyms

to burn
vsto burn at the stake
  • NSFW
291 9.9

To kill someone by tying them to a stake and setting them on fire

is also used figuratively to mean intense public criticism or condemnation
to put to death
vsto burn at the stake
  • Offensive
46 7.6

To kill someone as a legal punishment

focuses on killing by fire and often extends to mean public condemnation

Antonyms

to pardon
211 3.0

To forgive someone for a small mistake or rude act

to exonerate
  • Formal
129 8.2

To say officially that someone is not guilty of a crime

How Condemned

to burn at the stake
  • NSFW
12 9.8
to condemn
298 4.0
to criticize
701 3.3

Surface Forms

burn at the stake infinitive

Morphology

burn + at + the + stake

The primary meaning — to burn someone tied to a post as a form of execution — is directly compositional from 'burn' (to set on fire) + 'at'/'the' (location markers) + 'stake' (a post), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the literal meaning. Although the phrase can be used figuratively for severe public condemnation, that metaphorical extension is transparently grounded in the literal image and similar constructions exist in many languages, supporting immediate comprehensibility.

Etymology

The phrase burn at the stake comes from a cruel old punishment when a person was tied to a wooden post called a stake and then burned alive. Because this was a very public and extreme way to punish someone, the phrase now often means being given 'severe criticism' or 'public condemnation'.