exorcise

verb

ex·​or·​cise ˈek-ˌsȯr-ˌsīz  -sər- 

variants or less commonly exorcize

exorcised also exorcized; exorcising also exorcizing

transitive verb

1

a

: to expel (an evil spirit) by adjuration

b

: to get rid of (something troublesome, menacing, or oppressive)

2

: to free of an evil spirit

exorciser noun

Synonyms

• cashier
• cast (off)
• chuck
• deep-six
• discard
• ditch
• dump
• eighty-six
• 86
• fling (off or away)
• jettison
• junk
• lay by
• lose
• pitch
• reject
• scrap
• shed
• shuck (off)
• slough (off)
• sluff (off)
• throw away
• throw out
• toss
• unload

Examples of exorcise in a Sentence

The movie is about a priest who tries to exorcise demons from a young girl.

please exorcise that offensive word from your vocabulary

Recent Examples on the Web

Premier outside hitter Finn Bell anchored an otherwise deep group to reach the title game for the second straight year – exorcising the Warriors’ demons by beating the Bombers in the state semifinals. —Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 21 June 2025

Lots of demons were exorcised in a 10-day span last fall, when the Mets clinched a wild card berth with frantic 8-7 win over the Braves in game no. 161 before beating the Brewers in a three-game wild card series and disposing of the Phillies in four games in an NL Division Series. —Jerry Beach, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025

The Ritual The Bottom Line Been there, exorcised that. —Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 5 June 2025

Many want a fresh start under a new manager to exorcise the demons of this season. —Rob Tanner, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French exorciscer, from Late Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein, from ex- + horkizein to bind by oath, adjure, from horkos oath

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for exorcise

• advertise
• aggrandize
• agonize
• alibis
• alkalies
• alkalis
• amortize
• amplifies
• analyse
• analyze
• anywise
• authorize

Kids Definition

exorcise

verb

ex·​or·​cise ˈek-ˌsȯr-ˌsīz 

-sər-

exorcised; exorcising

: to drive (as an evil spirit) off by calling upon some holy name or by spells