EXCORIATED Synonyms: 75 Similar and Opposite Words

excoriated

verb

past tense of excoriate

as in attacked

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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in irritated

to make sore by continued rubbing the manacles had badly excoriated the prisoner's wrists

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of excoriated At a hearing, the judge excoriated the government after workers cut down at least 400 trees over a holiday weekend with little notice to the plaintiffs. — Michael Kunzelman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026 Former President Barack Obama excoriated Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy for his attack ad with Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother during his first rally of the 2026 midterm election cycle in Cleveland. — Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 24 Oct. 2026 Her thumbs fiddled, and her eyebrows rose as Castillo excoriated government spending on undocumented immigrants. — Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 Acton and other Democrats, as well as some Republicans, have excoriated Ramaswamy for the ad and for bringing up his opponent's childhood trauma. — ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026 Australia’s prime minister, for example, excoriated OpenAI and Altman for failing to alert officials in a timely manner that an agent had targeted a government health website. — Robert Hart, The Verge, 5 Oct. 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for excoriated

Verb

Many questions Bukele has billed the rapid buildup as a search-and-rescue operation to find the missing Salvadorans, who were attacked east of Port-au-Prince while returning to camp after a trip to the supermarket.

— Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2026
Kaye spent around $100,000 on dozens of ads in the Hollywood trades, Variety among them, some of which attacked Norton and the studio.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of attacked

Verb

Salazar’s attempt to distance herself from the increasingly-unpopular president could potentially appease moderate and independent voters, but her TV ad also irritated Trump personally — as well as some of his hard-core MAGA supporters.

— Michael Vasquez, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
Some develop in varicose veins; others form where a needle or IV has irritated a vein.

— Angela Haupt, Time, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of irritated

Verb

In a lawsuit filed against Medieval Times in November 2024, Hainsworth alleged that shortly after the performance began, the horse panicked and slammed into the wall at roughly 35 miles per hour.

— Alessandra Schade, Vanity Fair, 28 Oct. 2026
Clubs across the country sent messages of solidarity and support to the victims of the accident, which also left dozens injured after a high-speed train slammed into the rear of another one that had stopped on the tracks.

— ABC News, ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of slammed

Verb

That cute little feral furball was mean as hell and bit, scratched, and ultimately abandoned the family.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Nov. 2026
Anyone who is bit or scratched should immediately seek medical attention and report the attack to police.

— Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of scratched

Verb

For example, just recently, Musk publicly scolded the CEO of Delta in a scorching post on X when the airline did not partner with Starlink to provide Wi-Fi on Delta flights.

— Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
But leaders seeking to encourage tourism scolded residents who warned of the danger on social media.

— Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of scolded

Verb

Thompson has criticized the self-funding, while Jones has fired back by pointing at the incumbent’s history of accepting corporate donations.

— Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026
Sand criticized Iowa's education savings account, or voucher, program, which uses public money to help families pay private school tuition.

— Sheila Brummer, NPR, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of criticized

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“Excoriated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excoriated. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of excoriated

verb

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