as in piercing
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in bruising
to cut (someone's flesh) deeply or roughly
The broken glass lacerated his feet. The patient's hand was severely lacerated.
Related Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lacerating
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
In the film, director Marina Zenovich reminds Chase of the joke that offended Sweeney, best remembered for his lacerating impression of then-first lady Nancy Reagan.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 30 Dec. 2025
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
Adam Bradley Luis Alberto Rodriguez Carlos Nazario, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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
In the film, director Marina Zenovich reminds Chase of the joke that offended Sweeney, best remembered for his lacerating impression of then-first lady Nancy Reagan.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 30 Dec. 2025
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
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
-
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.—
Claudia Levens,
jsonline.com,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Mars merging with Pluto can hit you with a piercing moment of honesty.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Victor Glover described peering at the long shadows of the lunar terminator through a telephoto lens and suddenly feeling transported down to that airless, forbidding landscape and imagining himself off-road driving among jagged peaks.—
Andrew Chaikin,
Space.com,
16 Apr. 2026
-
McMau maintains a level of jagged authenticity that implies there might well be a threat around every corner for both of his characters.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Police said someone pulled out a gun and fired into a crowd, wounding three people.—
Deanese Williams-Harris,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Apr. 2026
-
On Wednesday, Israel conducted mass strikes on Lebanon, killing more than 300 people and wounding more than 1,000.—
Will Gottsegen,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lacerating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lacerating. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
