excoriate

verb

ex·​co·​ri·​ate ek-ˈskȯr-ē-ˌāt 

excoriated; excoriating

transitive verb

1

: to wear off the skin of : abrade

2

: to censure scathingly

excoriation

(ˌ)ek-ˌskȯr-ē-ˈā-shən 

noun

Did you know?

Excoriate, which first appeared in English in the 15th century, comes from "excoriatus," the past participle of the Late Latin verb excoriare, meaning "to strip off the hide." "Excoriare" was itself formed from a pairing of the Latin prefix ex-, meaning "out," and corium, meaning "skin" or "hide" or "leather." "Corium" has several other descendants in English. One is "cuirass," a name for a piece of armor that covers the body from neck to waist (or something, such as bony plates covering an animal, that resembles such armor). Another is "corium" itself, which is sometimes used as a synonym of "dermis" (the inner layer of human skin).

Synonyms

• abuse
• assail
• attack
• bash
• belabor
• blast
• castigate
• jump (on)
• lambaste
• lambast
• potshot
• savage
• scathe
• slam
• trash
• vituperate

Examples of excoriate in a Sentence

He was excoriated as a racist.

The candidates have publicly excoriated each other throughout the campaign.

Recent Examples on the Web

The colorful, outspoken, free-market economist and television personality excoriated the political establishment, while vowing to take a chainsaw to a bloated government, obscene levels of spending and high taxes and to replace the near-worthless peso with the U.S. dollar. —Steve Forbes, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024

Others blamed Russian influence efforts supporting Trump or FBI Director James Comey’s statement excoriating Clinton’s handling of classified information in her emails while serving as secretary of state. —Chris Megerian, Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2024

Through that portraiture, however, the film delivers an excoriating verdict on a modern Britain characterized by compassionless labor politics, stagnant opportunity and shrugging acceptance of a stifling status quo. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 18 Oct. 2024

And those who oppose MAGA conservatism — and its pervasive insistence that the 2020 election was stolen — are excoriated. —Karen Yourish, New York Times, 10 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin excoriatus, past participle of excoriare, from Latin ex- + corium skin, hide — more at cuirass

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

excoriate

verb

ex·​co·​ri·​ate ek-ˈskōr-ē-āt 

-ˈskȯr-

excoriated; excoriating

: to criticize very severely

excoriation

(ˌ)ek-ˌskōr-ē-ˈā-shən 

-ˌskȯr-

noun