SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
excoriate
verb
To scrape or wear away skin; also to criticize severely.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Criticize severely
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topLambaste and tear into are vivid, less formal alternatives; censure can be formal official criticism.
Scrape the skin
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topThese alternatives apply to physical damage, not to the figurative criticism meaning.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See excoriate in use
The critic will excoriate the production for its careless treatment of the script.
In a fictional museum, the director decided to castigate a guide who had knowingly invented histories for several objects and presented them as established facts. A visiting critic threatened to excoriate the exhibition for leaving those claims on its labels after the problem had been reported.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license