excoriate

ex·co·ri·ate

Use excoriate in a sentence

verb

The definition of excoriate is to chafe, abrade or wear off the skin.
A tight bracelet that rubs against your skin, chafing it and causing redness and irritation is an example of something that excoriates.
To excoriate is defined as to condemn, criticize thoroughly or express strong disapproval.
When you thoroughly condemn a certain behavior, this is an example of a time when you excoriate.

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MLA Style

"excoriate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/excoriate>.

APA Style

excoriate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/excoriate

excoriate

transitive verb

-·at·ed, -·at·ing

to strip, scratch, or rub off the skin of; flay, abrade, chafe, etc.
to denounce harshly

Origin of excoriate

Middle English excoriaten from Classical Latin excoriatus, past participle of excoriare from ex-, out, off + corium, the skin: see corium

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"excoriate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/excoriate>.

APA Style

excoriate. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/excoriate

excoriate

transitive verb

ex·co·ri·at·ed, ex·co·ri·at·ing, ex·co·ri·ates

a. To censure strongly; denounce: “preparing to excoriate him for his insufficient preparations” ( Neil Bascomb )
b. To criticize (something) harshly: “After excoriating the vapid culture of movie-star worship … he's ended up at that trough” ( Maureen Dowd )
To tear, scrape, or wear off (the skin).

Origin of excoriate

Middle English excoriaten from Latin excoriāre excoriāt- ex- ex- corium skin ; see sker-¹ in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

ex·co′ri·a′tion
noun

ex·co′ri·a′tor
noun

Usage Note: Traditionally, one excoriates people, not things, but in recent years the verb has been given a wider variety of objects, and the Usage Panel does not object. In our 2002 survey, 83 percent of the Panel accepted the sentence The party's national convention and its platform were excoriated by a contemptuous press, where the verb acts upon products of human effort.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.