damn with faint praise

Cultural  

1. To criticize someone or something indirectly by giving a slight compliment: “When the critic remarked that Miller's book was ‘not as bad as some I've read,’ she was obviously damning it with faint praise.”

---

damn with faint praise Idioms  

1. Compliment so feebly that it amounts to no compliment at all, or even implies condemnation. For example, The reviewer damned the singer with faint praise, admiring her dress but not mentioning her voice. This idea was already expressed in Roman times by Favorinus (c. a.d. 110) but the actual expression comes from Alexander Pope's Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot (1733): “Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, and, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer.”

---

Example Sentences

Although the film has a myriad of problems, it is, to damn with faint praise, mostly watchable.

From Salon • Dec. 22, 2021

To damn with faint praise, he’s far less self-aggrandizing than Greitens.

From Washington Times • Mar. 20, 2018

Not to damn with faint praise, but Stehlin has orchestrated the play's frequent scene shifts with the logistical finesse of a field marshal.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2015

But Cowell, who had pointed to DeWyze as the frontrunner before the finale performances, seemed to damn with faint praise.

From Seattle Times • May 26, 2010

If it is possible to "damn with faint praise," how much more damaging must be—no praise at all.

From How to be Happy Though Married Being a Handbook to Marriage by Hardy, Edward John