excoriate

From Late Latin excoriātus, perfect participle of Latin excoriō (“take the skin or hide off, flay”), from ex (“off”) + corium (“hide, skin”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪkˈskɔɹ.iˌeɪt/, /ɪkˈskoʊɹ.iˌeɪt/

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excoriate (third-person singular simple present excoriates, present participle excoriating, simple past and past participle excoriated)

1. (transitive) to remove the skin and/or fur of, to flay, to skin
2. (transitive) To wear off the skin of; to chafe.

   Synonyms: abrade, chafe, flay

3. (transitive, figuratively) To strongly denounce or censure.

   Synonyms: condemn, disparage, reprobate, tear a strip off, criticize, criticise

   • 2004, China Miéville, Iron Council, Trade paperback edition, published 2005, →ISBN, page 464:

     Madeleina di Farja had described Ori, and Cutter had envisaged an angry, frantic, pugnacious boy eager to fight, excoriating his comrades for supposed quiescence.

   • 13 September 2006, Patrick Healy, “Spitzer and Clinton Win in N.Y. Primary”, in New York Times‎:

     Mr. Green, a former city public advocate and candidate for mayor in 2001, ran ads excoriating Mr. Cuomo’s ethics.

   • April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair‎:

     The tabloids branded him forevermore as the “love rat,” and Pasternak was excoriated for peddling mawkish fantasy.

     adapted from the book The Palace Papers, published 2022 by Penguin Books

• excoriator
• excoriation

• exoterica

excoriāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of excoriō

excoriate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of excoriar combined with te