1
as in attacking
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 excoriating
Hannah Einbinder brings vulnerability to a project that needs her brand of self-excoriating fearlessness.
—
Joshua Rothkopf,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2026
And she’s proven a popular voice on social media, where a recent TikTok video excoriating the Supreme Court decision on voting rights drew more than 19 million views.
—
Aidan McLaughlin,
Vanity Fair,
21 May 2026
William Hall, who represents Chatham, from excoriating the company.
—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
At a parliamentary hearing in 2023, MPs asked the former minister of state for development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, a series of excoriating questions about its decision to invest taxpayer money in companies accused of human rights breaches, including the Nairobi Women’s Hospital.
—
Hettie O'Brien,
The Dial,
21 Apr. 2026
The famous detective novelist and screenwriter had written an essay for the magazine excoriating the motion-picture industry and its tolerance for—indeed celebration of—mindless mediocrity.
—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
The president often has chosen a combative approach, even excoriating Democrats during the bipartisan prayer breakfast this year, Upton noted.
—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
21 Feb. 2026
National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya raised these points when excoriating siblings studies on social media in September.
—
O. Rose Broderick,
STAT,
16 Jan. 2026
The beat resumed, the volume its usual excoriating self, Shields’ guitar reprogrammed to give a hint of body-moving swing.
—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
28 Nov. 2025
Joshua Rothkopf,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2026
And she’s proven a popular voice on social media, where a recent TikTok video excoriating the Supreme Court decision on voting rights drew more than 19 million views.
—
Aidan McLaughlin,
Vanity Fair,
21 May 2026
William Hall, who represents Chatham, from excoriating the company.
—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
At a parliamentary hearing in 2023, MPs asked the former minister of state for development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, a series of excoriating questions about its decision to invest taxpayer money in companies accused of human rights breaches, including the Nairobi Women’s Hospital.
—
Hettie O'Brien,
The Dial,
21 Apr. 2026
The famous detective novelist and screenwriter had written an essay for the magazine excoriating the motion-picture industry and its tolerance for—indeed celebration of—mindless mediocrity.
—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
The president often has chosen a combative approach, even excoriating Democrats during the bipartisan prayer breakfast this year, Upton noted.
—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
21 Feb. 2026
National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya raised these points when excoriating siblings studies on social media in September.
—
O. Rose Broderick,
STAT,
16 Jan. 2026
The beat resumed, the volume its usual excoriating self, Shields’ guitar reprogrammed to give a hint of body-moving swing.
—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
28 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excoriating
Verb
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His pace routinely bothered Sweden, including on one impressive solo run in the first half that produced a quality attacking scenario.
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The video then shows the woman throwing Martinez to the ground, grabbing her by the hair and repeatedly attacking her as bystanders try to step in and help.
Verb
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This behavior isn’t just irritating or upsetting.
-
How to avoid chiggers Aside from the potential risk of anaphylactic allergy and severe illness, chiggers are, well, irritating.
Verb
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The video shows the panicked deer backing itself into a corner, slamming itself against the building and retaining wall.
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Diplo has taken a similarly direct approach — by slamming artists who oppose using the technology.
Verb
-
Repairing Furniture There are few misfortunes greater than scratching a new piece of dark wood furniture.
-
Unless Drury is just scratching the surface as a 26-year-old, his 27 points in 82 regular-season games aren’t as promising a sign as his postseason highlights.
Verb
-
This ancient poem isn’t interested in scolding women for their sexuality, but in the establishment of honor in the elite household.
-
The princess hilariously put her little brother in his place by scolding him.
Verb
-
Moore argues the city should be doing annual sand management, rather than scraping for funds and coming up short each time the larger-scale project comes around.
-
Keeping the burners on high and using the scraping tool or a bench scraper, scrape at a roughly 45-degree angle to remove the rust or the stuck-on food.
Verb
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The group issued a point-by-point analysis of the memorandum, criticizing it for potentially freeing up tens of billions of dollars for Iran without putting sufficient safeguards to ensure the country won’t use the money to fund operations against the United States.
-
The week, however, was not without controversy for the South Korean team, as the squad barred press from their home country after audio of media criticizing the mandatory military service exemption granted to Son was leaked.
Cite this Entry
“Excoriating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excoriating. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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