Definition of EXCORIATE

Did You Know?

Excoriate, which first appeared in English in the 15th century, comes from "excoriatus," the past participle of the Late Latin verb excoriare, meaning "to strip off the hide." "Excoriare" was itself formed from a pairing of the Latin prefix ex-, meaning "out," and corium, meaning "skin" or "hide" or "leather." "Corium" has several other descendants in English. One is "cuirass," a name for a piece of armor that covers the body from neck to waist (or something, such as bony plates covering an animal, that resembles such armor). Another is "corium" itself, which is sometimes used as a synonym of "dermis" (the inner layer of human skin).

Examples of excoriate in a Sentence

He was excoriated as a racist. The candidates have publicly excoriated each other throughout the campaign.

Recent Examples on the Web

He was excoriated earlier this year for having defended a Chilean bishop accused of witnessing and ignoring abuse by Chile’s most notorious predator priest. — Nicole Winfield, The Seattle Times, "Vatican expert wants accountability on abuse summit agenda," 8 Oct. 2018 Nafta was excoriated during the 2016 presidential campaign, and President Trump, a veteran of marketing and branding, has sought to change the name. — William Mauldin, WSJ, "Ten Things to Know About the Nafta Deal," 1 Oct. 2018 Many of the legal and regulatory changes that Brill excoriates have counterintuitive beginnings. — New York Times, "America Has Gone Off the Rails. Steven Brill Sees Ways to Get It Back on Track.," 2 July 2018 As other tweeters noted, Ellison's excoriating view of his fellow occupants of the galaxy could be summed up in one of his most famous quotes. — Robert Jablon, USA TODAY, "'Star Trek' scriptwriter Harlan Ellison, master of sci-fi literature, dies at 84," 28 June 2018 Despite shaky evidence for the claim, Krauthammer was foremost among pundits who took up the president's cause, excoriating anyone who opposed it or hesitated, including the Swedish weapons inspector Hans Blix and Secretary of State Colin Powell. — Adam Bernstein, latimes.com, "Charles Krauthammer, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and intellectual provocateur, dies at 68," 21 June 2018 Despite shaky evidence for the claim, Krauthammer was foremost among pundits who took up the president’s cause, excoriating anyone who opposed it or hesitated, from the Swedish weapons inspector Hans Blix to Secretary of State Colin Powell. — Adam Bernstein, BostonGlobe.com, "Charles Krauthammer, Pulitzer-winning columnist and intellectual provocateur, dies at 68," 21 June 2018 Despite shaky evidence for the claim, Dr. Krauthammer was foremost among pundits who took up the president’s cause, excoriating anyone who opposed it or hesitated, from the Swedish weapons inspector Hans Blix to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. — Adam Bernstein, Washington Post, "Charles Krauthammer, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and intellectual provocateur, dies at 68," 21 June 2018 Notorious for his misogyny, Mr Duterte excoriates female critics with particular savagery. — The Economist, "A new book explores the myths and reality of Rodrigo Duterte’s life," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'excoriate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.