exfoliate

American

[eks-foh-lee-eyt] / ɛksˈfoʊ liˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

to throw off in scales, splinters, etc.
to remove the surface of (a bone, the skin, etc.) in scales or laminae.

verb (used without object)

to throw off scales or flakes; peel off in thin fragments.

The bark of some trees exfoliates.
Geology.
1. to split or swell into a scaly aggregate, as certain minerals when heated.
2. to separate into rudely concentric layers or sheets, as certain rocks during weathering.
Medicine/Medical. to separate and come off in scales, as scaling skin or any structure separating in flakes.

exfoliate British

/ ɛksˈfəʊlɪˌeɪt /

verb

(tr) to wash (a part of the body) with a granular cosmetic preparation in order to remove dead cells from the skin's surface
(of bark, skin, etc) to peel off in (layers, flakes, or scales)
(intr) (of rocks or minerals) to shed the thin outermost layer because of weathering or heating
(of some minerals, esp mica) to split or cause to split into thin flakes

a factory to exfoliate vermiculite

"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

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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:

exfoliate exfoliates exfoliated exfoliating

I’ll exfoliate and get myself fresh for the week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2024

Dee also combines the treatments with high-grade medical skin care to exfoliate dead skin cells and use serums to stimulate collagen and elastin.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2023

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

Don’t wash your face, don’t exfoliate, don’t put a tea-tree serum on it.

From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2019

Here are pieces of rails along which the wheels of locomotives have slidden; the granules have yielded and become plates; they exfoliate or come off in leaves.

From The Glaciers of the Alps Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, etc. by John Tyndall

Writer-director Sofia Coppola exfoliates the lust for celebrity lifestyles that often powers theft, even at its most haphazard and uncoordinated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2024

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

She demonstrates how to apply a cleanser to the nubs and how to move the buzzing device around your face as it exfoliates and removes dirt.

From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2019

“The belief is that if you give your skin everything it needs to perform optimally, you won’t have to help it exfoliate itself. The truth is our skin naturally exfoliates itself through programmed cell turnover.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 9, 2018

Characteristics of the Tree: Height, 80'-100'; diameter 2'-4'; trunk often forked; bark, light gray, shallow fissures, rather smooth, rarely exfoliates; leaves, 8"-12" long, compound 7 leaflets, sharply serrate; fruit, a thick-shelled nut, bitter kernel.

From Wood and Forest by William Noyes

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

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

Such exfoliated samples can be quite clean and free from impurities that would otherwise interfere with graphene's desirable properties.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2024

As exfoliated in Paul B. Preciado’s playful and profound cine-essay, Woolf’s narrative explodes into a multiplicity of voices, nonbinary and trans, speaking directly to the camera in an unflinching stream of complex, heartfelt testimony.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2023

“Yeah. I have five humongous bug bites on my legs and arms, my butt crack has been thoroughly exfoliated with sand, I’m hungry, exhausted, and I haven’t seen a ship anywhere.”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

She starts by using an exfoliating mitt to apply an oil-based Nerra cleanser and follows with Prequel’s Gleanser, a hydrating, glycerin-based wash that she also uses on her face.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 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