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

The changes, which Newsom called for in the spring to offset a ballooning Medi-Cal budget deficit, drew criticism from some immigrant rights groups, with the California Immigrant Policy Center describing the moves as “discriminatory.”

From Los Angeles Times

When she quit the New York Times in 2020, she accused her former employer of failing to protect her from internal criticism by her colleagues.

From Los Angeles Times

For all the criticism heaped on Penn State coach James Franklin regarding his perceived inability to win the big games, there is a flip side.

From Los Angeles Times

It takes time for players to acclimatise to a new squad, but expensive signings face further pressure to perform if they are to avoid external criticism.

From BBC

The sibling relationship still remains deeply fractured following Harry's public criticism of the Royal Family.

From BBC

Related Words

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