criticize
verb
Simple meaning
To evaluate, assessing its merits and faults.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kritihsyzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɹɪtɪsaɪz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws
“The paper criticized the new movie.”
To evaluate (something), assessing its merits and faults.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws
Used this way, criticize is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
“The paper criticized the new movie.”
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use criticize
- “The paper criticized the new movie.”verb
- “Those who criticize others often are not perfect, either.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: find fault with
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.