criticize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to find fault; judge unfavorably or harshly.
-
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:
But tech titan Elon Musk has taken to X on multiple occasions to criticize the film, which in his opinion "desecrated" the story.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
China sought to play down the event as unexceptional, even as some countries in the region were quick to criticize it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 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
Though he mainly went after Becerra, Steyer also made sure to criticize Hilton.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
There is, however, no sign—not the slightest fragment of evidence—that they had been struck by this, and Sprat went out of his way to criticize Bacon’s insufficiently critical approach to questions of evidence.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Ramos, 55, who denies all the allegations, said that it is an escalation of a years-long attempt to silence his work that often criticizes Mexican forces who work closely with US allies on the border.
From Barron's ● May 14, 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
Mr. Hellbeck criticizes scholars such as Timothy Snyder for supposedly failing to see the “fundamental difference” between the Nazi and Soviet regimes in their treatments of the local population and especially of the Jews.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
Like the show it criticizes, it is an exercise in rubbernecking, capitalizing on the contestants’ anguish and suffering instead of offering healthy media analysis in hindsight as medicine.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 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
Meta has been consistently criticized for its spending levels over the past few quarters as the company has overhauled its AI strategy with the creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
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
On the theme of Caesar salad, Nigella Lawson’s controversial recipe — which was criticized by fans and culinary professionals more than a decade ago — has earned its redemption by being timely, useful and effortless.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
The implication was that I’d criticized the vice president for taking a day of paternity leave.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
In an open letter to township residents and policy makers, he criticized “idiosyncratic alternatives” to public districts, many of them “owned and operated by large national corporations whose number one mission is to enrich shareholders.”
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
This way, you’re improving the process, not criticizing it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Lorne’s always saying everyone in Hollywood has two jobs: their own job and criticizing “SNL.'”
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
Vance told members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet criticizing the agreement to "wake up and smell the reality," amid growing tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
They’re on that television criticizing the greatest civil-rights leader known to man, and all he ever wanted was to bring peace to this country.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
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.
