excoriate

verb

ex·​co·​ri·​ate ek-ˈskȯr-ē-ˌāt 

excoriated; excoriating

transitive verb

1

: to wear off the skin of : abrade

2

: to criticize scathingly

excoriation

(ˌ)ek-ˌskȯr-ē-ˈā-shən 

noun

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).

Synonyms of excoriate

• attack
• scold
• slam
• criticize
• insult

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

Martin Sherman’s play Bent (1979), an excoriating account of the Nazi persecution of homosexuals that is also a story of love between two men in the most terrible circumstances, belongs to this select category. — Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026

Outspoken actor and comedian Michael Rapaport excoriated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Jewish gathering outside of Gracie Mansion on Friday. — Alex Nitzberg, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2026

After reviewing a transcript of the scene provided by The Hollywood Reporter, two prominent American Muslim advocacy groups excoriated the film’s depiction of Islam. — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026

Terence Tao, a renowned mathematician and leading authority on differential equations, excoriated what AI was doing to the field. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 10 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin excoriatus, past participle of excoriare, from Latin ex- + corium skin, hide — more at cuirass

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for excoriate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate
• angulate

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Kids Definition

excoriate

verb

ex·​co·​ri·​ate ek-ˈskōr-ē-āt 

-ˈskȯr-

excoriated; excoriating

: to criticize very severely

excoriation

(ˌ)ek-ˌskōr-ē-ˈā-shən 

-ˌskȯr-

noun