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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
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
The group of about 200 workers, their supporters and constituents of Kim decried potential cuts to Medi-Cal, as Medicaid is known in California, and excoriated President Trump and tech titan Elon Musk, head of DOGE.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2025
The sprawling narrative spans three decades of post-war America, features a 15-minute intermission and excoriates the sinewy connections between creativity, exploitation and alienation.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 17 Feb. 2025
The Trader Joe’s grocery chain is limiting egg sales to one dozen per customer, per day, nationwide.
Democrats should be excoriating Trump and his ilk.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 12 Feb. 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 25 Mar. 2025.
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excoriate
verb
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