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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).
Synonyms
Examples of excoriate in a Sentence
Mariel Padilla and Grace Panetta, Them, 27 Jan. 2025
The letter excoriated her for taking TV interviews while the city burned.
—Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025
The former special prosecutor had become one of Trump’s biggest targets during his prosecutions, with the now-president-elect repeatedly excoriating him in speeches, over social media, and at rallies.
—Brady Knox, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 12 Jan. 2025
The argument has, at times, sounded outright offensive; Ramaswamy, for instance, justified his preference for cheap foreign labor by excoriating American culture itself.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Dec. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near excoriate
Cite this Entry
“Excoriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excoriate. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
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excoriate
verb
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