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Excoriate, which first appeared in English in the 15th century, comes from "excoriatus," the past participle of the Late Latin verb excoriare, meaning "to strip off the hide." "Excoriare" was itself formed from a pairing of the Latin prefix ex-, meaning "out," and corium, meaning "skin" or "hide" or "leather." "Corium" has several other descendants in English. One is "cuirass," a name for a piece of armor that covers the body from neck to waist (or something, such as bony plates covering an animal, that resembles such armor). Another is "corium" itself, which is sometimes used as a synonym of "dermis" (the inner layer of human skin).
Examples of excoriate in a Sentence
Zachary Basu, Axios, 24 Mar. 2025
The next month was vocalist Patti LuPone, famous for her soaring voice but also for excoriating maskless theatergoers during COVID-19.
—Peter Tonguette, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025
Canada was infuriated and mystified with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a weekend news conference excoriating the move to punish a longtime friend and ally and announcing retaliatory tariffs.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 3 Feb. 2025
Now then, some angry pundits will excoriate you for being so lackadaisical.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for excoriate
Cite this Entry
“Excoriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excoriate. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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excoriate
verb
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