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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).
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Examples of excoriate in a Sentence
Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
Continue reading … ‘A SLIPPERY SLOPE’ – Schumer excoriated over 'unprecedented,' 'ridiculous' Israel speech.
—Fox News, 15 Mar. 2024
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, on Thursday delivered a pointed speech on the Senate floor excoriating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East and calling for new leadership in Israel, five months into the war.
—Annie Karni, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
The Bills swiftly cut Araiza and he was excoriated in the media.
Facts about his behavior on the night in question slowly came to light through investigations by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the county prosecutor’s office and San Diego State.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024
These are the scenes that dominate the early phase of the 2024 presidential campaign, with Republicans excoriating President Joe Biden and considering whether to impeach his Homeland Security secretary.
—Colleen Long, Orlando Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2024
The company would immediately be abandoned by advertisers and publicly excoriated, with executives having to issue apologies and beg for forgiveness.
—Oliver Darcy, CNN, 28 Feb. 2024
These changes are a stark departure from the earliest days of the crisis, when public-health experts excoriated public figures—among them, former President Donald Trump—for evoking flu to minimize COVID deaths and dismiss mitigation strategies.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2024
That description fits the scam Shawn Thompson ran on a Miami woman, an extortion that got Thompson excoriated by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Barket in a December summary judgment.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 22 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'excoriate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Excoriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excoriate. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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excoriate
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More from Merriam-Webster on excoriate
Nglish: Translation of excoriate for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of excoriate for Arabic Speakers
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