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
-
Just attacking everything with strikes.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
11 June 2026
-
Police in the northwest Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights have released a sketch of a man accused of attacking and choking a woman this past weekend.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
His frustration manifests as bullying or irritating Radha.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
8 Dec. 2025
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Well, this latest adaptation could, which spins the aforementioned plot points in staggeringly irritating ways.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
4 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The Massachusetts Republican Party is slamming both Markey and Healey for backing Platner.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
10 June 2026
-
Hugh Laurie has apologized to a writer after slamming her criticisms of House on social media.—
Kathleen Perricone,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
Affected animals transfer rabies by biting, licking or scratching other animals and humans.—
Laura Horne,
Charlotte Observer,
11 June 2026
-
Zoo veterinarians and staff will closely monitor the cubs and observe their behaviors like making small climbs, scratching through substrate and calling to one another when startled.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 June 2026
Verb
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On March 12, the judge sought to change the journalists’ seating arrangement in court after scolding them for asking İmamoğlu questions during a hearing.—
Kaya Genç,
The Dial,
9 June 2026
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And this time, Carmen turned his sights towards Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson, scolding him for his timeout decisions.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
20 May 2026
Verb
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Sure enough, the sticky surface of the connector segment back to Arizona Trail passage 3 brought up haunting memories of being mired in muck the previous month near the Mogollon Rim, and forced me to employ a new mud-scraping stick within an hour of getting back on trail.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
8 Dec. 2025
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There are 618 McDonald's restaurants in Ohio, according to the web scraping tool ScrapeHero.—
Chad Murphy,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
8 Dec. 2025
Verb
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And unlike Gober’s ad, the ad targeting Bores from Leading the Future’s Think Big PAC leans heavily into criticizing Bores for wanting to regulate AI at the state level.—
Hadas Gold,
CNN Money,
10 Dec. 2025
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The Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit, pointing instead to Bondi’s earlier statements criticizing ICEBlock.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Excoriating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excoriating. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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