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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
Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 25 Mar. 2025
The dissenting justices excoriated the administration for abusing the Alien Enemies Act.
—Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 7 Apr. 2025
Warner overall excoriated the officials on the text list, some of whom were at the hearing, about the overall lapse in security and the dangers of alienating allies.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025
Several participants in the group chat, including Waltz and Rubio, had for years excoriated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for using a private email server to conduct government business.
—Zachary Basu, Axios, 24 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 19 Apr. 2025.
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excoriate
verb
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