The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
EXCORIATE
Definition of EXCORIATE
verb
To remove the skin and/or fur of, to flay, to skin.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
EXCORIATE carries 4 further meanings.
transitive verb
To censure strongly; denounce.
transitive verb
To criticize (something) harshly.
transitive verb
To tear, scrape, or wear off (the skin).
To flay; strip off the skin of.
Where it comes from
First attested in the first part of the 15 century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English *excoriaten (only attested in its past participle), borrowed from Late Latin excoriātus perfect passive participle of excoriō (“to take the skin or hide off, flay, skin”), from ex- (“out off, from”) + corium (“hide, skin”) + -ō. Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English, later archaic.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Latin
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
33%
of traced words share this origin (9,764)
branch · 33% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, EXCORIATE · 3 relatives in the game
EXCORIATE in a sentence
“So perhaps the best advice for those who want to justify this or claim that others are being too militant and yes, some are likely being too pushy and thus come across as being little more than mirror images of those they want to excoriate is to just stop settling and just continue exploring.”
I'm Perfectly Happy with My Reading Habits, Even If You Aren't, 2010
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
EXCORIATE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 17 boards so far. 304 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 32, 21 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 145, 12 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 32, 21 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
EXCORIATE starts with E and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ACEEIORTX - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once. It uses X - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of EXCORIATE. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Words that start EXCORI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 32
Could you have found EXCORIATE?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 32 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER