Excoriation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɛks.kɔ.ɹi.eɪʃən/

Definitions

1. A raw or scraped area on the skin caused by scratching or rubbing ; a harsh or severe verbal attack directed at someone or something
2. The skin surface irritated or removed through friction or injury ; a scathing denunciation or condemning speech aimed at a person or an idea
3. Damage to the outer layer of skin resulting from scraping ; an intensely critical expression of disapproval or blame toward a target

Etymology: Excoriation is built from "excoriate" plus the suffix "-ion", and the path it took runs through a Latin verb meaning to strip off a hide. The Latin "excoriare" joined "ex-", meaning "out of" or "off", with "corium", meaning "skin" or "hide", so the original sense was literally flaying or stripping the skin from something. English "excoriate" carried that physical meaning first, and the noun followed the same route as countless other Latin-derived nouns: the suffix came down from Latin "-tiō" through Old French "-ation" and Middle English "-acioun" before settling into the modern "-ion" form. The noun has kept both halves of its earlier range. Its literal sense, damage to the outer layer of skin from scraping, is the older physical meaning that the verb always carried. The figurative sense, a harshly critical condemnation of someone, grew out of the image of skin being torn away, so that a scathing attack could be imagined as stripping a person's reputation down to the raw.

Synonyms: scraping, abrasion, laceration, criticism, rebuke

Antonyms: approval, praise, commendation, endorsement