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

In 1962, Macdonald published his magnum opus of cultural criticism, “Against the American Grain: Essays on the Effects of Mass Culture,” containing the most famous of his essays, “Masscult & Midcult.”

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026

The plan swiftly drew bipartisan criticism from members of Congress, who rejected the administration’s similar 2026 proposal in January.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2026

A criticism of all of these studies is the technology is developing rapidly, meaning the software powering the chatbots has moved on by the time the research is published.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

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

Volpe always gives much more praise than criticism.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Related Words

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