lacerated
Americanadjective
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mangled; jagged; torn.
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pained; wounded; tortured.
lacerated sensibilities.
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Botany, Zoology. having the edge variously cut as if torn into irregular segments, as a leaf.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lacerated
Explanation
If skin is lacerated, it's deeply cut or badly torn. After falling hard on your skateboard, you can tell your knees are lacerated by the blood seeping through your jeans. Doctors use the word lacerated to describe particularly jagged wounds or cuts. If your skin is lacerated, it needs to be disinfected and possibly even stitched up. If you have a painful mishap on your unicycle, you're more likely to call your injury a "cut" or "wound," but when you go to the emergency room, they'll describe your arm as lacerated. The Latin root means "tear to pieces" or "mangle."
Vocabulary lists containing lacerated
Dreaming in Cuban
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Dragon's Gate
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Serafina and the Twisted Staff
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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.
"I'm convinced that if my nerve was lacerated tomorrow I would have our implant put in," he said.
From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026
“We have been lacerated by the tentacles of corruption and by criminal networks that have profoundly marked the life of our country,” Zelaya wrote on X on Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 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
I find Abuela sitting motionless on her wicker swing, wearing a worn bathing suit, her hair stuck haphazardly to her skull, her feet strangely lacerated.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
