criticism

[krit-uh-siz-uhm]

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.

criticism

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• countercriticism noun
• overcriticism noun
• precriticism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of criticism¹

First recorded in 1600–10; critic + -ism

Synonym Study

See review.

Example Sentences

Don’t miss: Nvidia is going out of its way to rebut online criticism.

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Defined-outcome funds have drawn criticism from some in the investing world, who have argued that the ETFs don’t offer the same diversification as traditional bonds and deliver lackluster upside.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

See also: Nvidia is going out of its way to rebut online criticism.

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In 1982 I was recruited by the New York Times to take the No. 2 spot on its influential art criticism desk.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After talks in Geneva just over a week ago, the United States updated the original blueprint following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.

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Related Words

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