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tr.v. 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).
2. To tear, scrape, or wear off (the skin).
[Middle English excoriaten, from Latin excoriāre, excoriāt- : ex-, ex- + corium, skin; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]
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.
1. to strip (the skin) from (a person or animal); flay
2. (Medicine) med to lose (a superficial area of skin), as by scratching, the application of chemicals, etc
3. to denounce vehemently; censure severely
[C15: from Late Latin excoriāre to strip, flay, from Latin corium skin, hide]
ex•co•ri•ate(ɪkˈskɔr iˌeɪt, -ˈskoʊr-)
v.t. -at•ed, -at•ing.
1. to denounce or berate severely: He was excoriated for his mistakes.
2. to strip off or remove the skin from.
[1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin excoriātus, past participle of excoriāre to strip, skin]
Past participle: excoriated
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|Verb||1.||excoriate - express strong disapproval of; "We condemn the racism in South Africa"; "These ideas were reprobated"|
denounce - speak out against; "He denounced the Nazis"
|2.||excoriate - tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading; "This leash chafes the dog's neck"|
2. To criticize harshly and devastatingly: