as in piercing
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as in bruising
to cut (someone's flesh) deeply or roughly
The broken glass lacerated his feet. The patient's hand was severely lacerated.
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Recent Examples of lacerating
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Apr. 2026
The same could be said for Howe’s lacerating self-flagellation afterwards.
—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2026
According to the Daily Mail, Rebecca Loos, David Beckham’s former personal assistant, had a few things to say about the long-simmering family drama, which exploded into public view Monday after 26-year-old Brooklyn Beckham posted a lacerating take-down of his parents on Instagram.
—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
20 Jan. 2026
Yet this stark, lacerating comedy-drama, set in a seaside Long Island that recalls Woody Allen’s Interiors, is admirable in its uncompromising look at the havoc a long-term sibling rivalry can create for everyone within the blast radius.
—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
5 Dec. 2025
Her diaries, two volumes of which have been published, reveal a wonderful writer, lyrical and self-lacerating.
—
Anahid Nersessian,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
His desperate, lacerating Teddy is a character who has ruined his own life, who has martyred himself out of his devotion to The Truth.
—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
28 Aug. 2025
Australian playwright Tony McNamara has turned his side hustle as a screenwriter into a blessing for Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favourite), and viewers of The Great, his bawdy historical farce for Hulu, can attest to his love of layered, lacerating insults.
—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Aug. 2025
Irrational violence and lyric visions erupt in lacerating, supremely elegant prose that’s also genuinely funny at times.
—
Jon Raymond
august 5,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
Judy Berman,
Time,
2 June 2026
The industry’s issues have come up in debates and on the campaign trail, certainly, but perhaps not so much as challenger (and ex-reality TV villain) Spencer Pratt’s lacerating AI videos about Bass’ role in last year’s devastating Pacific Palisades fires.
—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2026
The songs are at times over-the-top, at others lacerating in their introspection about everything from the anxiety of aging to the anguished choice to terminate a pregnancy.
—
Adam Bradley Luis Alberto Rodriguez Carlos Nazario,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Mulligan delivers lacerating fragility, while Isaac turns Josh’s accommodating nature into a pathology, but both characters are littered with backstory details that Beef leaves hanging.
—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Apr. 2026
The same could be said for Howe’s lacerating self-flagellation afterwards.
—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2026
According to the Daily Mail, Rebecca Loos, David Beckham’s former personal assistant, had a few things to say about the long-simmering family drama, which exploded into public view Monday after 26-year-old Brooklyn Beckham posted a lacerating take-down of his parents on Instagram.
—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
20 Jan. 2026
Yet this stark, lacerating comedy-drama, set in a seaside Long Island that recalls Woody Allen’s Interiors, is admirable in its uncompromising look at the havoc a long-term sibling rivalry can create for everyone within the blast radius.
—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
5 Dec. 2025
Her diaries, two volumes of which have been published, reveal a wonderful writer, lyrical and self-lacerating.
—
Anahid Nersessian,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
His desperate, lacerating Teddy is a character who has ruined his own life, who has martyred himself out of his devotion to The Truth.
—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
28 Aug. 2025
Australian playwright Tony McNamara has turned his side hustle as a screenwriter into a blessing for Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favourite), and viewers of The Great, his bawdy historical farce for Hulu, can attest to his love of layered, lacerating insults.
—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Aug. 2025
Irrational violence and lyric visions erupt in lacerating, supremely elegant prose that’s also genuinely funny at times.
—
Jon Raymond
august 5,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
That biography took the form of a dark romance between the self-lacerating Louis and his fiercely loving but brutal maker, Lestat, filtered through the former’s brooding subjectivity.
—
Judy Berman,
Time,
2 June 2026
The industry’s issues have come up in debates and on the campaign trail, certainly, but perhaps not so much as challenger (and ex-reality TV villain) Spencer Pratt’s lacerating AI videos about Bass’ role in last year’s devastating Pacific Palisades fires.
—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2026
The songs are at times over-the-top, at others lacerating in their introspection about everything from the anxiety of aging to the anguished choice to terminate a pregnancy.
—
Adam Bradley Luis Alberto Rodriguez Carlos Nazario,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lacerating
Adjective
-
Still, the glimpses of freedom Clark offers are all the more piercing for their rarity.
-
The ping of pickleball play produces a uniquely piercing and repetitive sound that has led to contentious lawsuits and controversies across the entire country, including just north in Fox Point, as the sport has rapidly grown in popularity over the last few years.
Verb
-
Another strike Saturday targeted a group of people in the sprawling tent camp of Muwasi in southern Gaza, killing one and wounding eight others, according to Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
-
Another strike on Saturday targeted a group of people in the sprawling tent camp of Muwasi in southern Gaza, killing one and wounding eight others, according to Nasser hospital, where the casualties were taken.
Adjective
-
Irregular, edges catch oil differently, crisping into jagged, craggly bits while softer interior pockets hold onto dressing, broth, or sauce—the kind of varied texture that makes each bite its own.
-
As pests crawl through it, its jagged edges scrape their exoskeletons, dehydrating and killing them.
Cite this Entry
“Lacerating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lacerating. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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