criticize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to find fault; judge unfavorably or harshly.
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to make judgments as to merits and faults.
verb
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to judge (something) with disapproval; censure
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to evaluate or analyse (something)
Other Word Forms
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criticizableadjective
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criticizernoun
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criticizinglyadverb
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noncriticizingadjective
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overcriticizeverb
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precriticizeverb (used with object)
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recriticizeverb (used with object)
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uncriticizableadjective
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uncriticizablyadverb
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uncriticizedadjective
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uncriticizingadjective
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uncriticizinglyadverb
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well-criticizedadjective
Etymology
Origin of criticize
Explanation
To criticize is to find what's wrong with something, like the improbabilities in a movie's plot line, or double standards in your father's rules. The verb criticize comes from the noun, critic, and means "to act like a critic." A critic is someone who judges, and that doesn't have to mean negative judgment (think of a glowing movie review from a movie critic), but when we use criticize we always mean finding what's wrong, instead of what's good, with something. If your friend is just learning to bake, don't criticize his first batch of burned cookies too harshly; he'll just give up.
Vocabulary lists containing criticize
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 3
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 2
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The New SAT: The Language of the Test
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At another point, he rose from his seat, spread his arms wide and said, “You want to criticize someone, come to me. Criticize me. Here I am. Crucify me.”
From Washington Times • Nov. 20, 2022
“That’s, to me, the difference. Criticize me if you like for doing that. Maybe it’s good so you could appreciate your life a little more for a period of time.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2022
Criticize the music’s simplistic emotions, earworm hooks, instant clichés, and crowd-pleasing exhortations as much as you’d like, the movie suggests, but don’t misunderstand it as insincere or inartistic, as selling out or pandering.
From The New Yorker • Nov. 5, 2018
Criticize the Mets for their moves and desperation at times, but no one can argue they have not tried to be a championship team.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 8, 2010
Criticize the reasoning in the following extract from a letter to a newspaper urging Republican and Democratic tickets at the municipal election in a small city in the country.
From The Making of Arguments by Gardiner, J. H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
