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
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
-
Tyler, the Creator’s Don’t Tap the Glass, ironically, is the least piercing and the most hedonistic, by design.—
Rolling Stone,
Rolling Stone,
29 Dec. 2025
-
Streisand covered the emotionally piercing song the following year, and clever DJs around the country began splicing the two solo versions together.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
24 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Many of Iceland’s pools are immersed in nature, combining water therapy with dramatic landscapes of jagged mountains, waterfalls, rivers, and lava fields.—
Lauren Breedlove,
Outside,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Two cars teetered at the jagged edge, their noses tipped skyward, almost frozen in the instant before a plunge.—
Ira Gorawara,
New York Times,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Kelly’s debut romps with the animal, real and imagined, exploring love and wounding through the animal-nature of our feelings, the precarious past and present of our human lives.—
Erik Pedersen,
Oc Register,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Another strike hit the eastern city of Baalbek, killing six people and wounding 15, according to state media.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lacerating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lacerating. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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