lacerate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
lacerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lacerated,
past participle, past
-
lacerating
present participle
-
to tear roughly; mangle.
The barbed wire lacerated his hands.
- Synonyms:
- rend
-
to distress or torture mentally or emotionally; wound deeply; pain greatly.
His bitter criticism lacerated my heart.
adjective
verb
-
to tear (the flesh, etc) jaggedly
-
to hurt or harrow (the feelings, etc)
adjective
Synonym Usage
See maim.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
lacerabilitynoun
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lacerationnoun
-
lacerableadjective
-
lacerativeadjective
-
self-laceratingadjective
-
unlaceratingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
laceratesimple
-
laceratessimple
-
have laceratedperfect
-
has laceratedperfect
-
am laceratingprogressive
-
are laceratingprogressive
-
is laceratingprogressive
-
have been laceratingperfect progressive
-
has been laceratingperfect progressive
Past
-
laceratedsimple
-
had laceratedperfect
-
was laceratingprogressive
-
were laceratingprogressive
-
had been laceratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lacerate
1535–45; from Latin lacerātus, past participle of lacerāre “to tear up” (derivative of lacer “mangled”); see -ate 1
Explanation
The verb lacerate means to cut or tear. So the envelope that gave you that nasty paper cut? It lacerated your finger. Something usually needs to be sharp or jagged to lacerate you, like broken glass or a sharp stick. You won't be getting lacerated anytime soon by lace or cotton balls, that's for sure. But watch out for sharp-tongued people hurling hateful words your way; those snide remarks and personal digs can lacerate feelings like a knife slicing through butter.
Vocabulary lists containing lacerate
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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"The Banana Tree," Vocabulary from the short story
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David Bowie (1947-2016) Tribute List
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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:
While large shards of plastic can lacerate organ walls, the smaller particles, known as microplastics, can be just as deleterious.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2023
When Brady doesn’t face quick pressure, he is typically able to lacerate opposing defenses with short passes.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 30, 2019
Despite the carping of her critics, Clinton does in fact lacerate herself for losing.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2017
Commercial radio did not arrive until 1920, and 1916 phonographs would lacerate 2017 sensibilities, as would 1916’s silent movies.
From Washington Post ● May 5, 2017
It was far too long ago now—if it had ever been real; for sometimes indeed it seemed all a dream—to lacerate her heart in recollecting it.
From When Ghost Meets Ghost by De Morgan, William Frend
Baumbach’s signature serio-comic touch, in which the humor lacerates as much as the drama, should be in full effect here.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
This summer lacerates us as we gradually accept that warnings won’t work.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2021
This left Levy feeling like the possibility of motherhood has been cut off, and she lacerates herself for imagining she had it within her power to create a new kind of improvised family.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2017
As it is, spare a thought for likely runner-up, Michelle Williams for Manchester by the Sea, who lacerates your heart in a fraction of Davis’ screen time.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 23, 2017
It is not pain that lacerates; it cuts, and cuts clean when we keep ourselves still and let it do its merciful ministry upon us.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture Psalms by Maclaren, Alexander
"I'm convinced that if my nerve was lacerated tomorrow I would have our implant put in," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
Judge Cote lacerated the plaintiff attorneys for cherry-picking evidence and ignoring studies that have found no causal link.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025
He left the room, returning with a metronome whose loud, mechanical clicking lacerated the otherwise-fine mood being created by a Bach record on the turntable.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2025
Barabak: She lacerated Trump, citing his role inciting the Jan. 6 riot, his felony conviction for election interference and a jury’s finding he was liable for sexual abuse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2024
My hands are lacerated, I sound like I’m breathing through a gas mask, and I’m looking through a slit formed by the puffed lids of my right eye.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Last month Success Academy released a lacerating report saying more than 900 city schools have failure rates above 50% in reading, math or both.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Despite those assurances, she and her agency have been the subject of lacerating critiques from Carter, the federal judge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2025
"But all the while he's lacerating and battering himself about not being able to write, because, for him, writing only meant writing the novel."
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2024
On Friday, he continued his streak of lacerating rulings.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
This impression was dispelled early on when a probationer in Briony’s year, a large, kindly, slow-moving girl with a cow’s harmless gaze, met the lacerating force of the ward sister’s fury.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
