criticize

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Thesaurus

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verb

British English pronunciation: criticize

/ˈkrɪtɪsaɪz/

present tense
I/you/we/they	criticize
he/she/it	criticizes
present participle	criticizing
past tense	criticized
past participle	criticized

Metaphor
Expressing yourself

1
[intransitive/transitive] to say what you think is wrong or bad about something
Ministers were told not to criticize the policy publicly.
It was difficult to be honest without seeming to criticize.
criticize someone/something for (doing) something:
The new proposals have been criticized for not going far enough to change the system.
be strongly/severely/widely/sharply/heavily criticized:
Social services were widely criticized for not taking more action to protect children at risk.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of criticize
2
[transitive] to consider something carefully and judge what the good and bad aspects of it are
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of criticize

Metaphor: criticize

Criticizing someone or speaking in an angry and unpleasant way to them is like hitting or injuring them.

She hit out angrily at the judge’s decision.
He lashed out at me, accusing me of not caring.
They tore me to pieces/shreds.
They rapped me over the knuckles about it.
They were gunning for me.
Don’t beat yourself up over this.
Don’t knock what you don’t understand.
There’s no need to jump down my throat.

➡ angry, argument, feeling

Expressing yourself: criticize

Examples:

I’m bound to say/I have to say, I found his performance pretty disappointing.

With all due respect, Mr Davies, I do think you’re being a little unreasonable.

I think his behaviour in the meeting was immature, to put it mildly.

The training programme seems, shall we say, a little dull.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like Christine, I just don’t think she’s right for you.

Her boyfriend is a bit, how shall I put it, difficult to get along with. ♦ Let me put it this way, I wouldn’t miss her if she left.

Without wishing to hurt your feelings, I think you need to lose a little weight.

Vicki’s schoolwork has been poor this term, though, to be fair, her maths has improved. ♦ She never calls me, though to give her her due, she always remembers my birthday.

This is the British English definition of criticize. View American English definition of criticize.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

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