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
-
to evaluate or analyse (something)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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criticizernoun
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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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criticizableadjective
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noncriticizingadjective
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uncriticizableadjective
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uncriticizedadjective
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uncriticizingadjective
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well-criticizedadjective
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criticizinglyadverb
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uncriticizablyadverb
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uncriticizinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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criticizesimple
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criticizessimple
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have criticizedperfect
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has criticizedperfect
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am criticizingprogressive
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are criticizingprogressive
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is criticizingprogressive
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have been criticizingperfect progressive
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has been criticizingperfect progressive
Past
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criticizedsimple
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had criticizedperfect
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was criticizingprogressive
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were criticizingprogressive
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had been criticizingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
Castle said that, while he might criticize some of the government agency’s numbers or methodologies, he believes in the importance of the USDA, saying it’s “still the envy of the world in this sector.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
In a Depression-era bit set at a soup kitchen, you know he’ll be attacked for seeming to cut the line — “chat cuts” is the Davidean phrase — and that he’ll criticize the soup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson used her concurrence to criticize Bruen and suggest that the court should eventually return to a more traditional means-end approach.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026
“If it’s safe, how could you criticize it?”
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
For instance, Mama and Papa had never let her criticize kids at school when she was at home.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
“To a four-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad and helping your loved one grow.”
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Yet he still believes that he’s a man of the people who should be heeded on every aspect of life, especially on how to disregard all criticism because anyone who criticizes you must be wrong.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2026
The suit also criticizes the exemptions carved out for certain product categories and countries,, including Canada, Mexico, and Central American countries.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
If you’ve made it this far, you may be thinking that the reviewer is one of those insufferable people who criticizes others to burnish his own self-importance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
He criticizes Vincent’s dark palette and describes to him the work of some painters he’s seeing in Paris.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
After the June primary election, California elections officials were criticized for taking about a week to determine which gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral candidates would advance to November’s runoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The Dodgers were widely criticized by fans for failing to speak out at the time.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney criticized the tariffs as a violation of the USMCA.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
That surfaced a decade ago in a dispute with two researchers over their work—and in his posts on a web forum where their work was being criticized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
About 60 percent of them criticized Welles and his program.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
This way, you’re improving the process, not criticizing it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
“This brings me anxiety and uncertainty about the future,” said the student, who asked for their name to be withheld because they feared consequences to their immigration status for criticizing the changes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
He was really angry then that people were criticizing and judging a show that hadn’t even aired yet.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Despite the tensions over the war, Meloni initially avoided criticizing Trump directly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
All her life she’d felt hard and angry; her mother always criticizing her, Lexie and Trip always mocking her.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
