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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as in piercing
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Recent Examples of lacerating
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lacerating
Adjective
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My piercing call seemed absorbed by the heavy moisture, trapping even the echo I’d been accustomed to hearing.—
Jim Tschetter,
Outdoor Life,
27 Aug. 2025
-
This is a piercing and perceptive psychological thriller.—
Connie Ogle,
Boston Herald,
10 July 2025
Verb
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A student who authorities say opened fire at his Colorado high school, wounding two classmates and then turning the gun on himself, has died, according to the local sheriff's office.—
Alex Stone,
ABC News,
11 Sep. 2025
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Police say Reed then opened fire in the parking lot, killing Jones, wounding a 23-year-old Dallas man and also shooting at off-duty officers who were working at the business.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Most of the surface is made up of a fine dust with jagged edges because it hasn’t been weathered by wind or water.—
Jeremy Bogaisky,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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Against all of this allegedly heady stuff, the score—by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—intentionally jars us from encroaching drowsiness with chortling woodwinds and shardlike piano chords that are the aural equivalent of jagged Plexiglass off-cuts.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lacerating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lacerating. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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