MEANING
1. To scrape or rub away the surface of the skin.
2. To condemn or criticize someone severely, often publicly.
Use it for
Repeated scratching; friction damage; a narrator contrasting bodily and verbal crueltyUse the physical sense when abrasion matters; clarify it through an affected body surface.
Words that belong together
- excoriated skin
- excoriate the surface
- publicly excoriate
On the page
The rough bindings excoriated her wrists.
He had excoriated the skin around the bite by scratching.
The editorial excoriated the director for concealing the deaths.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- excoriate / excoriates
- Past tense
- excoriated
- Past participle
- excoriated
- Present participle
- excoriating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- excoriate / excoriates
- Present continuous
- am/is/are excoriating
- Present perfect
- have/has excoriated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been excoriating
- Past
- excoriated
- Past continuous
- was/were excoriating
- Past perfect
- had excoriated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been excoriating
- Future
- will excoriate / excoriates
- Future continuous
- will be excoriating
- Future perfect
- will have excoriated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been excoriating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. The physical sense is technical; in ordinary formal prose, severe verbal condemnation is common. Do not confuse with deeper surgical excision. Verb [base, third-person present, past, past participle, -ing]: excoriate, excoriates, excoriated, excoriated, excoriating. Derived/related family (not inflections): excoriation (noun).
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