excoriate

[ ik-skawr-ee-eyt, -skohr- ]

/ ɪkˈskɔr iˌeɪt, -ˈskoʊr- /

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verb (used with object), ex·co·ri·at·ed, ex·co·ri·at·ing.

to denounce or berate severely; flay verbally: He was excoriated for his mistakes.

to strip off or remove the skin from: Her palms were excoriated by the hard labor of shoveling.

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Origin of excoriate

Late Middle English, from Late Latin excoriātus (past participle of excoriāre “to strip, skin or bark”). See ex-¹, corium, -ate¹;def. 2 was first recorded in 1375–1425, and def. 1 was first recorded in 1880–85.

OTHER WORDS FROM excoriate

un·ex·co·ri·at·ed, adjective

Words nearby excoriate

excommunicable, excommunicate, excommunication, excommunicative, excommunicatory, excoriate, excoriation, excorticate, excrement, excrementitious, excrescence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

VOCAB BUILDER

What does excoriate mean?

Excoriate means to harshly scold, criticize, denounce, or express 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.

In a medical context, excoriate means to scratch, scrape, or otherwise cause skin to be rubbed off or removed.

The act or an instance of excoriating is excoriation.

Example: She publicly excoriated her rival for his role in the scandal, criticizing him in the most extreme terms.

Where does excoriate come from?

The first records of excoriate 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,” and the suffix -ate is used to form verbs. The figurative sense of excoriate didn’t enter widespread use until around the 1880s.

Today, when people use the word excoriate, they’re most likely talking about harshly scolding someone, 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 excoriate, including flay, berate, castigate, chastise, and upbraid. Less formal synonyms include the terms rip into, tear into, and lay into.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to excoriate?

unexcoriated (adjective)
excoriation (noun)

What are some synonyms for excoriate?

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

corium

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

How is excoriate used in real life?

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

Sean Payton should get a free pass from the league office to excoriate NFL officiating. The NFL has gone out of their way to earn it.

— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) September 15, 2019

Top aides in Health and Human Services excoriated government doctors for warning Americans about the new coronavirus https://t.co/yFejJtVdkR

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 18, 2020

Ok, I am going to get excoriated for this but, I just don't get the craze for "Frozen". https://t.co/smQKL2Afoi

— Aradia Zenobia (@Oxyzentricity) September 18, 2020

Try using excoriate!

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

A. tear into
B. berate
C. encourage
D. castigate

Example sentences from the Web for excoriate

She drew scrutiny last month for traveling to Utah with her husband during the crisis and later excoriated the wind power industry during a committee hearing, though wind turbines generate only a fraction of the state’s electricity.
Texas’s chief energy regulator fiercely defended fossil fuels after historic blackouts. She also profits from oil and gas.|Neena Satija, Aaron Gregg|March 19, 2021|Washington Post
Some have excoriated those across the aisle for holding the hearing at all.
Facebook, Google, Twitter CEOs clash with Congress in pre-election showdown|Tony Romm, Rachel Lerman, Cat Zakrzewski, Heather Kelly, Elizabeth Dwoskin|October 28, 2020|Washington Post
The president also excoriated Redfield’s Senate testimony that universal mask-wearing may be more useful than a coronavirus vaccine.
CDC chief’s letter greenlighting Pence for debate draws criticism|Lena H. Sun, Yasmeen Abutaleb|October 7, 2020|Washington Post
Newspaper editorials continue to excoriate Netanyahu, even calling for his resignation—editorials written by his supporters.
Why Did Netanyahu Release Palestinian Prisoners?|Abraham Katsman|August 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST

It teases and goads the wealthy to be fair rather than excoriate them for being rich.
Obama Call for Buffett Rule Is Potent Politics but an Economic Pitfall|Zachary Karabell|April 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Those who excoriate the approach as idealistic or unrealistic missed the point.
Condi Rice: The Bush 'Freedom Agenda' Won|The Daily Beast|October 23, 2011|DAILY BEAST
That opened a new opportunity for bloggers to excoriate both Duncan and his staff.
Teachers Furious at Duncan|Diane Ravitch|May 10, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Critics on the right properly excoriate him for those historic mistakes.
Remembering Robert Byrd|Paul Begala|June 28, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Neither have you a right to excoriate those who are conscientiously operating through the channels spoken of.
The Abominations of Modern Society|Rev. T. De Witt Talmage
The drops of rain bruise us; the false sounds excoriate us; the darkness blinds us.
The Temptation of St. Antony|Gustave Flaubert
Those attacked by the insect scratch, and in this act they excoriate the skin, crush the lice and contaminate their fingers.
Handbook of Medical Entomology|William Albert Riley
Five days after this period, I again observed a disposition to excoriate.
An Essay on the Application of the Lunar Caustic in the Cure of Certain Wounds and Ulcers|John Higginbottom
Its pamphlets went so far as to excoriate allied methods of warfare and to level accusations of inhumanity against the Belgians.
Woodrow Wilson and the World War|Charles Seymour

British Dictionary definitions for excoriate

excoriate

/ (ɪkˈskɔːrɪˌeɪt) /

verb (tr)

to strip (the skin) from (a person or animal); flay

med to lose (a superficial area of skin), as by scratching, the application of chemicals, etc

to denounce vehemently; censure severely

Derived forms of excoriate

excoriation, noun

Word Origin for excoriate

C15: from Late Latin excoriāre to strip, flay, from Latin corium skin, hide

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for excoriate

excoriate

[ ĭk-skôr′ē-āt′ ]

v.

To scratch or otherwise abrade the skin by physical means.

Other words from excoriate

ex•co′ri•a′tion n.

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WORD OF THE DAY

excoriate

verb (used with object), ex·co·ri·at·ed, ex·co·ri·at·ing.