(See also FAULTFINDING.) ?

Page tools
blue-pencil To delete or excise, alter or abridge; to
mark for correction or improvement. Used of written
matter exclusively, blue-pencil derives from the blue
pencil used by many editors to make manuscript
changes and comments.
damn with faint praise To praise in such restrained
or indifferent terms as to render the praise worthless;
to condemn by using words which, at best, express Pri Fee
mediocrity. Its first use was probably by Alexander nt dba
Pope in his 1735 Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot: er ck
fri Ad
Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer.
en d
peanut gallery See INSIGNIFICANCE. dl defi
pot shot A random, offhand criticism or y niti
condemnation; a censorious remark shot from the hip, Ci on
lacking forethought and direction. Webster’s te
Third cites C. H. Page’s reference to /
lin
subjects which require serious discussion, not verbal k
potshots. E
Pot shot originally referred to the indiscriminate, m
haphazard nature of shots taken at game with the ail
simple intention of providing a meal, i.e., filling the
pot. By transference, the term acquired the sense of a
shot taken at a defenseless person or thing at close
range from an advantageous position.
slings and arrows Barbed attacks, stinging criticism;
any suffering or affliction, usually intentionally
directed or inflicted. The words come from the famous
soliloquy in which Hamlet contemplates suicide:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. (III, i)
As commonly used, the expression often retains
the suffer of the original phrase, but usually completes
the thought by substituting another object
for outrageous fortune, as in the following:
En route to the United States the enterprise has
suffered the slings and arrows of detractors as diverse Advertisement (Bad
as George Meany and Joseph Papp. (Roland Gelatt, banner? Please let us
in Saturday Review, February, 1979) know)
stop-watch critic A hidebound formalist, whose focus
is so riveted on traditional criteria or irrelevant Related Ads
minutiae that he fails to attend to or even see the true
and total object of his concern. Laurence Sterne gave
us the term in Tristram Shandy.
“And how did Garrick speak the soliloquy last night?”
“Oh, against all the rule, my lord, most
ungrammatically. Betwixt the substantive and the
adjective, which should agree together in number,
case, and gender, he made a breach, thus—stopping as ▪ ▪ Ne
if the point wanted settling; and betwixt the W w cr
nominative case, which, your lordship knows, should W itici
govern the verb, he suspended his voice in the W sm
epilogue a dozen times, three seconds and three-fifths ▪ Go
by a stop-watch, my lord, each time.” G ogle
“Admirable grammarian! But in suspending his voice o NL
was the sense suspended likewise? Did no expression o Web
of attitude or countenance fill up the chasm? Was the gl hp
eye silent? Did you narrowly look?” “I looked only at e ▪ Ma
the stop-watch, my lord.” “Excellent observer!” c rxis
o m cr

Picturesque m
▪
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sm
▪ Go
Expressions: A it
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Dictionary, 1st ▪
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Edition. © 1980 o
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gl
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The Gale Group, e

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ar
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reserved. h
▪
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related D
Words Antonyms ef
in
Noun 1. criticism - disapproval expressed
iti
by pointing out faults or
o
shortcomings; "the senator
n
received severe criticism from his
▪
opponent"
L
unfavorable judgment
it
attack - strong criticism; "he
er
published an unexpected attack on
ar
my work"
y
disapproval - the expression of disapproval
T
brickbat - blunt criticism
h
carping, faultfinding - persistent petty and unjustified
e
criticism
or
flack, flak, attack, blast, fire - intense adverse criticism;
y
"Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party"; "the
government has come under attack"; "don't give me
any flak"
thrust - verbal criticism; "he enlivened his editorials
with barbed thrusts at politicians"
potshot - criticism aimed at an easy target and made ? My Word
without careful consideration; "reporters took potshots
at the mayor"
 rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval List
act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to
take the rebuke with a smile on his face"
slating - a severely critical attack; "the reviewers gave
his book a sound slating"
static - angry criticism; "they will probably give you a
lot of static about your editorial"
stricture - severe criticism
Add current
2. criticism - a serious examination and judgment of page to the list
something; "constructive criticism is always
appreciated"
critique
critical analysis, critical appraisal - an appraisal based
on careful analytical evaluation ? Charity
examen - a critical study (as of a writer's work)
knock, roast - negative criticism
self-criticism - criticism of yourself
3. criticism - a written evaluation of a work of literature
literary criticism
piece of writing, written material, writing - the work of
a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet
(especially when considered from the point of view of
style and effect); "the writing in her novels is
excellent"; "that editorial was a fine piece of writing"
explication de texte - a method of literary criticism that Feed a hungry
analyzes details of a text in order to reveal its structure child - donate to
and meaning school feeding
textual criticism - comparison of a particular text with program
related materials in order to establish authenticity
new criticism - literary criticism based on close
analysis of the text
analysis - a form of literary criticism in which the
structure of a piece of writing is analyzed
critical review, critique, review article, review
essay or article that gives a critical evaluation (as of a
book or play)

Based on WordNet
3.0, Farlex clipart
collection. © 2003-
2008 Princeton
University, Farlex
Inc.
criticism

noun

1. fault-finding, censure, disapproval, disparagement, s

tick (slang), knocking (informal), panning (informal),
slamming (slang), slating (informal), flak (informal),sl
agging (slang), strictures, bad
press, denigration, brickbats (informal), character
assassination, sideswipe, critical
remarks, animadversion The policy had repeatedly
come under strong criticism.

2. analysis, review, notice, assessment, judgment, com

mentary, evaluation, appreciation, appraisal, critique, e
lucidation Her work includes novels, poetry and
literary criticism.

Collins Thesaurus
of the English
Language –
Complete and
Unabridged 2nd
Edition. 2002 ©
HarperCollins
Publishers 1995,
2002
Translations
Select a language:

-----------------------

criticism →

Multilingual
Translator ©
HarperCollins
Publishers 2009
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