Synonyms of flay

flay

verb

ˈflā 

1

as in to scold

to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings

her husband flayed her constantly for her incessant shopping

Synonyms & Similar Words

• scold
• lecture
• reprimand
• criticize
• blame
• berate
• rag
• chastise
• upbraid
• lambast
• admonish
• attack
• jaw
• castigate
• lambaste
• rail (at or against)
• call down
• baste
• reproach
• rebuke
• keelhaul
• chew out
• ream (out)
• bawl out
• mock
• hammer
• lay into
• dress down
• fault
• rate
• rant (at)
• score
• crucify
• chide
• read the riot act (to)
• assail
• lash
• tongue-lash
• condemn
• take to task
• revile
• excoriate
• knock
• denounce
• slam
• diss
• reprove
• harangue
• pan
• disparage
• remonstrate (with)
• vituperate
• reprehend
• blast
• censure
• scourge
• ridicule
• abuse
• belittle
• bad-mouth
• scoff
• lace (into)
• scorn
• dis
• put down

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• approve
• indorse
• endorse
• sanction
• extol
• laud
• praise
• extoll

2

as in to peel

to remove the natural covering of

flayed their kill right there in the forest, taking both the meat and the skin home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• peel
• bark
• skin
• husk
• hull
• shuck
• bare
• shell
• expose
• scale
• strip
• denude
• pare

Examples of flay in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hernández ultimately received the backing of much of Colombia’s political elite, which apparently chose to flay itself and run the risk of an authoritarian becoming president rather than let the left take power. —Ivan Briscoe, Foreign Affairs, 19 June 2022

By breed, Sonny is a pariah, or desi, dog, slender, keen, and honey-coloured, about 35 pounds, with a narrow rib cage and flayed, Iggy Pop–like musculature. —James Parker, The Atlantic, 13 June 2024

The pundits who are flaying the White House for making the connection are merely buying a GOP talking point. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024

The domestic political consequences are easy to predict: Abe would be flayed in the mass media, lose support among the Japanese public, and encounter opposition from others in his own party. —Gerald L. Curtis, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2013