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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
Eli Hager, ProPublica, 8 Sep. 2025
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg excoriated Trump during an Iowa town hall hosted by the liberal group VoteVets Action Fund.
—Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 28 Aug. 2025
For over two years, a small but vocal group of Black Trump supporters has occupied a corner of the public seating in Council Chambers, testifying at virtually every meeting to excoriate Mayor Brandon Johnson and other Democrats.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2025
Cleaver and other Kansas City lawmakers have excoriated the effort, framing it as a brazen and undemocratic power grab that would dampen the voting power of Kansas City and its nearby suburbs.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Excoriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excoriate. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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excoriate
verb
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