excoriate
Verbally tear apart
To excoriate is to criticize severely, to denounce harshly: The senator was excoriated in the press for her comments.
The word carries a sense of stripping away pretense or dignity.
Literally, excoriate means to strip or wear off the skin, as from abrasion or chemical burn—the figurative sense extends this to verbal attack that leaves someone raw.
Scold with ferocity
- castigateReprimand severely
- condemnDeclare wrong or guilty
- censureFormal institutional disapproval
- denouncePublicly declare wrongdoing
berate · rebuke · upbraid · reprimand · chastise · vilify · revile · reproach
Shallow surface wound
- scrapeRub harshly against
- grazeFeed on growing plants
- lacerationTorn, ragged wound
- flayStrip off covering
peel · raw · wound · scratch · blister · dermabrasion · scarify · lesion
lambaste
Scold with ferocity
denounce · berate · rebuke · upbraid · reprimand · chastise · vilify · revile · reproach · decry
abrasion
Shallow surface wound
- scrapeRub harshly against
- grazeFeed on growing plants
- lacerationTorn, ragged wound
flay · peel · raw · wound · scratch · blister · dermabrasion · scarify · lesion · ulcerate
smear
Spread or defame
slander · libel · calumny · defame · aspersion · vilify · denigrate · obloquy · mudslinging · bad-mouth
vitriolic
Harshly bitter and corrosive
- searingBrowning with intense heat
- bitingHarshly critical or cold
- causticChemically burning; bitterly mocking
acerbic · withering · stinging · incisive · trenchant · mordant · lacerating · cutting · corrosive · scalding