1
as in to attack
to criticize harshly and usually publicly
the mayor had hardly been in office for a month before she was being excoriated for problems of very long standing
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Recent Examples of excoriate
Ironically, despite being billed as Disney’s most lifelike Audio-Animatronic, its face bears little resemblance to Walt's leading to a deluge of excoriating criticism from fans.
—
Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
Even for someone like Trump, who excoriated his predecessors for becoming mired in conflicts in the region and made lofty promises about pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the region's interlocking conflicts have proven difficult to ignore, to say nothing of global energy markets.
—Sonam Sheth, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
The documentary, aired in February, is expected to be the subject of an excoriating internal review coming next week after it was narrated by the child of a Hamas minister.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 4 July 2025
Throughout that first treatise, Locke excoriated the divine right of kings.
—Time, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for excoriate
Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
Even for someone like Trump, who excoriated his predecessors for becoming mired in conflicts in the region and made lofty promises about pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the region's interlocking conflicts have proven difficult to ignore, to say nothing of global energy markets.
—Sonam Sheth, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
The documentary, aired in February, is expected to be the subject of an excoriating internal review coming next week after it was narrated by the child of a Hamas minister.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 4 July 2025
Throughout that first treatise, Locke excoriated the divine right of kings.
—Time, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for excoriate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excoriate
Verb
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The green and whites play excellent attacking soccer and with Isco pulling the strings there is always a chance Betis could upset a big club.—
Vitas Carosella,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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Cardi also dropped a trailer for the album, showing her inside a house as crows swarm and attack her mansion.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
15 Aug. 2025
Verb
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As Venus irritates Pluto, exploring an office entanglement might not be a good idea!—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
2 Aug. 2025
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In fact, vitamin C, chemical exfoliants (like glycolic, lactic, or salicylic acid), and retinol shouldn’t be used together all at once, since this combination can irritate and inflame the skin (including your existing hyperpigmentation).—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
1 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Some have also scolded Colossal for tinkering with genetics, but the tech firm insists its work will aid in the conservation and protection of endangered species.—
Mike Snider,
USA Today,
12 Aug. 2025
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With the camel’s back broken, Dorothy Scott, summoning all her righteous indignation (and channeled with maybe one-third of Audra McDonald’s extraordinary talent, which is still enough to power the city of Manhattan), lets the snobby scold have it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
11 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Trump amps up his attacks on CEOs and other executives Trump has long used social media and his other public statements to cajole, criticize and praise companies and individual CEOs.—
Maria Aspan,
NPR,
14 Aug. 2025
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Some social media users have criticized the department’s reverence for the 1940s, noting the period predated the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed segregation, as well as other landmark legislation and Supreme Court decisions that were key to the civil rights era.—
Conor Murray,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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According to the outlets, police alleged in the documents that the couple repeatedly slammed the girl's fingers in a door frame, crushing her hand and causing her fingernails to separate from her hand.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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But a former Google executive has slammed the notion that the technology won’t be a job-killer and will actually create new work for humans.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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After a couple of insulting caricatures, increasingly bizarre depictions of the Vice President started to spread through the internet, the trend becoming a competition to see who could create the most hideous, weird or original Vance.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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More to the point, these kinds of claims insult the officers who are actually doing the work.—
Diane Goldstein,
Oc Register,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Excoriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excoriate. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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