lacerate
verb (used with object)
to tear roughly; mangle.
lacerating
-
present participleof lacerate.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
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.
Trade bible Variety called it a "lacerating portrait," while Deadline said the "damning" film had "thrashed" Musk as "petty, narcissistic, megalomaniacal, cruel."
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
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
Instead, with deep feeling and lacerating and gentle words, Leigh creates a world that, like the vast, mysterious one hovering outside its frame, can seem agonizingly empty if you can’t see the people in it.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 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
