criticism

American  

[krit-uh-siz-uhm] / ˈkrɪt əˌsɪz əm /

noun

1. the act of passing judgment as to the merits of anything.

2. the act of passing severe judgment; censure; faultfinding.

   Synonyms:

   animadversion, stricture

3. the act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of a literary or artistic work, musical performance, art exhibit, dramatic production, etc.

4. a critical comment, article, or essay; critique.

5. any of various methods of studying texts or documents for the purpose of dating or reconstructing them, evaluating their authenticity, analyzing their content or style, etc..

   historical criticism; literary criticism.

6. investigation of the text, origin, etc., of literary documents, especially Biblical ones.

   textual criticism.

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criticism British  

/ ˈkrɪtɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. the act or an instance of making an unfavourable or severe judgment, comment, etc

2. the analysis or evaluation of a work of art, literature, etc

3. the occupation of a critic

4. a work that sets out to evaluate or analyse

5. Also called: textual criticism.  the investigation of a particular text, with related material, in order to establish an authentic text

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Related Words

See review.

Other Word Forms

• countercriticism noun
• overcriticism noun
• precriticism noun

Etymology

Origin of criticism

First recorded in 1600–10; critic + -ism

Explanation

If you dye your hair bright blue, you're likely to get some criticism from people who just don't understand your personal style. When you're on the receiving end of criticism, you are being judged in a disapproving way. The noun criticism is most often used to describe negative commentary about something or someone, but it's just as correct to use criticism to mean "an examination or judgment." Critics who review books and movies consider their reviews to be criticism, whether they're positive or negative. So the criticism you receive doesn't have to be all about your faults; it can actually be a pleasant experience.

Example Sentences

First, he insisted that employees be ready to give and receive constructive criticism at all times and that people should be willing to argue for their ideas.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026

While speaking at a law school on April 7, she leveled a starkly personal criticism at Justice Brett Kavanaugh—a comment for which she later apologized.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

First Minister John Swinney has defended his plan to compel supermarkets to cap the price of some groceries following criticism from business groups.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

For decades, the Saudis took criticism for an east-west pipeline they built, which operated at just 20% of capacity.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

Italy, Japan, and eventually Germany withdrew in the face of League criticism, and other nations increasingly ignored the organization’s decisions.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• assessment
• comment
• critique
• judgment
• opinion
• review