excoriation

Excoriation is the act or an instance of excoriating—harshly scolding, criticizing, denouncing, or expressing intense disapproval of someone or something.

Excoriating someone often involves the severest possible tone and words.

This sense of excoriate is based on its original, literal meaning: to strip off or remove the skin from an animal or person. The skin on your hands might be excoriated from hard yard work, for example. The word flay can be used as a synonym for both the figurative and literal sense of excoriate.

Excoriation can also refer to the state of being excoriated.

In a medical context, excoriation can refer to an instance of the skin being scratched, scraped, or otherwise caused to be rubbed off or removed. It can also refer to a part of the body where this has happened, as in The patient had a large excoriation on his back as a result of the accident. 

Example: Her public excoriation of her rival for his role in the scandal was severe and unyielding.

The first records of excoriation come from around 1400. It comes from the Latin verb excoriāre, meaning “to strip off skin or bark,” from the Latin corium, meaning “skin” or “hide.” The prefix ex- means “without.” The figurative sense of the verb excoriate didn’t enter widespread use until around the 1880s.

Today, when people use the word excoriation, they’re most likely talking about a harsh scolding, and not about literally ripping someone’s skin off. But this is the underlying sense of its figurative use—a scolding so severe that it’s compared to getting your skin stripped off. There are many other words that mean about the same thing as excoriation, including flaying, chastisement, and castigation.

What are some other forms related to excoriation?

• excoriate (verb)

What are some synonyms for excoriation?

• flaying
• chastisement
• castigation

What are some words that share a root or word element with excoriation? 

• corium

What are some words that often get used in discussing excoriation?

• criticize
• punish
• harsh
• severe
• extreme
• publicly
• skin

The figurative sense of excoriation is much more commonly used than its literal sense.

Barnaby Joyce is more determined to stay on as Nationals leader after the public excoriation of his affair https://t.co/ZqUgSMirSb | @latikambourke

— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) February 15, 2018

As a recovering alcoholic, I wonder how the public excoriation of people who did stupid things in their past will affect people in recovery in the future. Confession, atonement, making amends, forgiveness & self-forgiveness are vital to recovery. So step 1: Isolate yourself?

— Christopher Moore (@TheAuthorGuy) February 6, 2019

Relevant to my remarks at yesterday's #FTCHearings: in 1877 the New York Times published a call for the public excoriation of the inventors of the telephone, saying among other things that it would be the death of #privacy. https://t.co/oEQmLlSsnE

— Neil Chilson (@neil_chilson) April 10, 2019

Which of the following terms is NOT a synonym of excoriation?

A. chastisement
B. castigation
C. encouragement
D. flaying