flays

Removes the skin

Flays is the third-person singular of flay, meaning to strip off the skin or outer covering.

The word appears in contexts of literal skinning—butchering animals or, historically, torture—but more often figuratively: a critic flays a performance, a boss flays an employee with harsh words.

The reviewer flays the novel for its shallow characters.

To flay is to attack so severely it feels like having skin removed.

criticism

criticizing

Voicing negative assessment

denouncingPublicly declaring disapproval
condemningExpressing severe disapproval
castigatingSeverely criticizing or reprimanding

lambasting · excoriating · berating · censuring · reproaching · rebuking · reprimanding · chastising · upbraiding · scolding

skinning

skin

Body's outer layer

hideConceal or pelt
peltFur-bearing animal skin
leatherTanned animal skin

tanner · tannery · butchery · carcass · taxidermy · skinning · fleshing · currying · scalpel · dermatome

beating

whip

Strikes or aerates

lashStrike or bind
scourgeCause of mass suffering
flogBeat with a whip

thrash · beat · batter · pummel · torture · maul · stripe · flagellate · birch · cane

brutality

savage

Fierce and untamed

cruelWillfully causing suffering
brutalSavagely harsh or severe
viciousCruelly aggressive in nature

merciless · ruthless · barbaric · ferocious · pitiless · sadistic · inhuman · heartless · callous · bloodthirsty

pain

agony

Extreme physical or emotional pain

anguishIntense mental suffering
sufferingSustained experience of distress
tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering

stinging · burning · raw · smarting · excruciating · searing · throbbing · laceration · wound · torment

flays

criticizing

skin

whip

savage

agony

flays

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