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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Synonym Usage

See review.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overcriticism
  noun
• countercriticism
  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

The proposal, which parliament had been due to vote on on June 15, had been met with fierce criticism in a country known for championing children's rights.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt based his campaign in large part on a scathing criticism of Bass’ handling of the Palisades fire and his own frustration after his Pacific Palisades house was destroyed.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026

Germany's players will pay for 600 of the country's fans to travel by bus to their final World Cup group game amid criticism of high transport costs at the tournament.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

The campaign arrives amid rising criticism of driverless technology and new competition.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

Hamilton’s distinction between personal and political criticism was designed to change the dispute with Burr from an affair of honor to a political difference of opinion.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

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