higher criticism

Save This Word!

noun

the study of the Bible having as its object the establishment of such facts as authorship and date of composition, as well as determination of a basis for exegesis.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Compare lower criticism.

Origin of higher criticism

First recorded in 1830–40

Words nearby higher criticism

high-energy, High Energy Astrophysical Observatory, high-energy phosphate bond, high-energy physics, higher, higher criticism, higher education, higher law, higher mathematics, higher power, higher rate

How to use higher criticism in a sentence

Models in Israel will have to maintain a BMI of 18.5 or higher if they want to stay employed.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Disordered eating is also linked to higher rates of depression and anxiety, both in the present and in the future.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Together, the teams are working 24 hours a day for a product that promises much higher risk than it does profit.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Higher courts, including the Supreme Court had refused to intercede, and the stay was to expire tonight.
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

But with the pipeline, transportation costs drop and production would be higher.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I claim that it contains many errors of fact, and the Higher Criticism supports the claim; as we shall see.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
Day by day these fretting anxieties and perplexities wasted her strength, and her fever grew higher and higher.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
If now we turn to the higher aspects of form, such as symmetry and proportion, we encounter a difficulty.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Cincinnatus will not back to his plow, or, at the best, stands sullenly between his plow-handles arguing for a higher wage.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
I then found myself hoisted up by degrees, at least three feet higher than I was before.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for higher criticism

higher criticism

noun

the use of scientific techniques of literary criticism to establish the sources of the books of the BibleCompare lower criticism

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012