Excoriate

//ɪkˈskɔɹ.iˌeɪt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    to remove the skin and/or fur of, to flay, to skin transitive
  2. 2
    express strong disapproval of wordnet
  3. 3
    To wear off the skin of; to chafe. transitive
  4. 4
    tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading wordnet
  5. 5
    To strongly condemn or criticize. figuratively, transitive

    "The teacher continued to excoriate the student after his academic issues."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Excoriated. obsolete

    "If the bowelles be excoriate, ye shall gyue thys peculier remedy."

Synonyms

All synonyms
abradechafereprobateabradeadmonishanathematize

Example

More examples

"The teacher continued to excoriate the student after his academic issues."

Etymology

First attested in the first part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English *excoriaten (only attested in its past participle), borrowed from Late Latin excoriātus perfect passive participle of excoriō (“to take the skin or hide off, flay, skin”), from ex- (“out off, from”) + corium (“hide, skin”) + -ō. Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English, later archaic.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.