excoriate

From Late Latin excoriātus, perfect participle of Latin excoriō (“take the skin or hide off, flay”), from ex (“off”) + corium (“hide, skin”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪkˈskɔɹ.iˌeɪt/, /ɪkˈskoʊɹ.iˌeɪt/

excoriate (third-person singular simple present excoriates, present participle excoriating, simple past and past participle excoriated)

1. (transitive) To wear off the skin of; to chafe or flay.

   Synonyms: abrade, chafe, flay

2. (transitive, figuratively) To strongly denounce or censure.

   Synonyms: condemn, disparage, reprobate, tear a strip off

   • 2004, China Miéville, Iron Council, 2005 Trade paperback ed., →ISBN. p. 464:

     Madeleina di Farja had described Ori, and Cutter had envisaged an angry, frantic, pugnacious boy eager to fight, excoriating his comrades for supposed quiescence.

   • 2006, Patrick Healy "Spitzer and Clinton Win in N.Y. Primary," New York Times, 13 Sep. (retrieved 7 Oct. 2008):

     Mr. Green, a former city public advocate and candidate for mayor in 2001, ran ads excoriating Mr. Cuomo’s ethics.

• excoriator
• excoriation

• exoterica

excoriāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of excoriō