Did you know?
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
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 7 Mar. 2025
Stefanik, Senator John Fetterman, and others excoriated Masoud from Washington, and the event was dissected in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Daily Mail.
—Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Up until the final vote, Democrats excoriated Republicans, sounding the alarm about what Kennedy’s agenda will mean for the nation’s health.
—Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 13 Feb. 2025
Khan has populist Republican fans including J.D. Vance, but has generally been excoriated by CEOs and big investors for the Federal Trade Commission’s aggressive stance on deals.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 26 Dec. 2024
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 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
excoriate
verb
Share