exfoliate
Americanverb (used with object)
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exfoliates,
present (3rd person singular)
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exfoliated,
past participle, past
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exfoliating
present participle
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to throw off in scales, splinters, etc.
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to remove the surface of (a bone, the skin, etc.) in scales or laminae.
verb (used without object)
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exfoliates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exfoliated,
past participle, past
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exfoliating
present participle
-
to throw off scales or flakes; peel off in thin fragments.
The bark of some trees exfoliates.
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Geology.
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to split or swell into a scaly aggregate, as certain minerals when heated.
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to separate into rudely concentric layers or sheets, as certain rocks during weathering.
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Medicine/Medical. to separate and come off in scales, as scaling skin or any structure separating in flakes.
verb
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(tr) to wash (a part of the body) with a granular cosmetic preparation in order to remove dead cells from the skin's surface
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(of bark, skin, etc) to peel off in (layers, flakes, or scales)
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(intr) (of rocks or minerals) to shed the thin outermost layer because of weathering or heating
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(of some minerals, esp mica) to split or cause to split into thin flakes
a factory to exfoliate vermiculite
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exfoliatesimple
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exfoliatessimple
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have exfoliatedperfect
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has exfoliatedperfect
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am exfoliatingprogressive
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are exfoliatingprogressive
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is exfoliatingprogressive
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have been exfoliatingperfect progressive
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has been exfoliatingperfect progressive
Past
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exfoliatedsimple
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had exfoliatedperfect
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was exfoliatingprogressive
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were exfoliatingprogressive
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had been exfoliatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exfoliate
First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin exfoliātus, past participle of exfoliāre “to strip off leaves”; see origin at ex- 1, foliate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I have this silicone exfoliant pad that I will use to fully exfoliate my body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025
These are like facial masks for your feet, and many make lofty promises to remove calluses, exfoliate your skin and make your feet feel smoother and softer.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2022
“The body treatment is especially nice because you’re able to exfoliate away a lot of the summer grime and get your skin ready for the fall season,” Holm explains.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2021
Don’t wash your face, don’t exfoliate, don’t put a tea-tree serum on it.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2019
These boulders owe their spheroidal form chiefly to 221 weathering, or action of frost, which causes the surface to exfoliate in concentric plates, so that all the more prominent angles are removed.
From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell
“If you don’t like ‘Crazy,’ there’s something wrong with you,” Lenae says as a pedicurist exfoliates her feet in a West Hollywood hotel room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
The spa’s most popular body treatment is the Honey Glow Body Wrap, which exfoliates your entire body in a warm wrap of honey.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2021
But overuse of a brush that exfoliates can cause skin to become inflamed and red.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2019
She moisturizes her feet with her homemade lotion and exfoliates once a week with Dr. Bronner’s soap and a foot file.
From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2016
The slime resembles a layer of albumen, spread with a brush; it exfoliates in drying, and finally becomes visible by the manner in which it colors green or deep brown.
From The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences by Edward Hitchcock
After addressing structural problems such as loss of adhesion and exfoliated paint, the restorers then used reversible techniques -- including watercolour paint -- to "stitch" everything back together, she said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The cavities were created using focused ion beam milling in thick, mechanically exfoliated Bi2Te3 flakes.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 24, 2026
For 45 minutes, a “Q-facial” machine sprayed, vacuumed, exfoliated and hydrated my face, delivering ultrasonic waves at two different depths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Not really knowing how well your feet will be exfoliated is up for question.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
In Miller's aerial photo the mountain looked particularly sinister: a huge fin of exfoliated stone, dark and smeared with ice.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
It also noted in its ruling that testers were asked to use an exfoliating product and a hydrogel, neither of which are sold with the mask.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
The treatment takes place on a heated marble table inside the hammam and begins with a thorough cleansing before moving into an invigorating exfoliating scrub.
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2026
They swirled hand-muddled blueberries and raw honey into organic, sugar-free yogurt for his facial; they stirred exfoliating Japanese volcanic sand into mineral-rich Korean mud for his hydrating mask.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2025
When the trees shed their puzzle-piece bark, it’s like they’re exfoliating: They deposit pollutants into the soil, preventing them from entering local waterways or our lungs, while jettisoning damaged bark.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2024
Ifemelu had finished and Aunty Uju was coating an exfoliating mask on her face when The General called to say he could no longer come.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
