excoriate

Advancedzipf 1.64

Pronunciation

/ɪkˈskɔːrieɪt/(ik-SKOR-ee-ayt)

Part of speech

verbformal

Chinese

严厉批评；痛斥

Definition

To criticize someone or something very harshly.

Word family

  • excoriation/ɪkˌskɔːriˈeɪʃən/(n)严厉批评

Collocations

  • excoriate a policy
  • publicly excoriate
  • excoriate in the press
  • excoriating review

Examples

  1. 1.The critic excoriated the film as the worst of the decade. (savaged)
  2. 2.She was excoriated by the media for her handling of the crisis. (harshly criticized)

Synonyms

  • denounce/dɪˈnaʊns/— publicly condemn
  • lambaste/læmˈbeɪst/— criticize harshly
  • castigate/ˈkæstɪɡeɪt/— severely reprimand

Etymology

from Latin "excoriare" = to strip off the skin — ex- (off) + corium (skin/hide) — criticism so harsh it strips your skin