criticism

noun

crit·i·cism | \ ˈkri-tə-ˌsi-zəm

Definition of criticism

1a : the act of criticizing usually unfavorably seeking encouragement rather than criticism

b : a critical observation or remark an unfair criticism had a minor criticism of the design

c : critique

2 : the art of evaluating or analyzing works of art or literature also : writings expressing such evaluation or analysis an anthology of literary criticism

3 : the scientific investigation of literary documents (such as the Bible) in regard to such matters as origin, text, composition, or history

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Examples of criticism in a Sentence

There was much public criticism directed at the senator. In this job you need to be able to take criticism. I asked my sister for some constructive criticism of my essay before I tried to revise it. I had one minor criticism about her design.

Recent Examples on the Web

Alexandra Lange’s architectural criticism column, Critical Eye, appears bimonthly on Curbed. — Mark Lamster, Curbed, "2018 in architecture: The good, the bad, and the urbanism," 27 Dec. 2018 Outlander is based on a book series that features multiple instances of rape, and the show has received both praise and criticism for its depictions in past seasons. — Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Outlander's Sophie Skelton Breaks Down Brianna's Harrowing Assault," 24 Dec. 2018 Microsoft has endured its own share of criticism lately around the ethical uses of its technology, as employees protested a contract under which US Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses Microsoft’s cloud-computing service. — Scott Thurm, WIRED, "Microsoft Calls For Federal Regulation of Facial Recognition," 13 July 2018 The votes would come after a flurry of criticism directed at those who want the convention. — Jim Morrill And Steve Harrison, charlotteobserver, "After flurry of criticism, Charlotte council will vote on deals for RNC convention," 11 July 2018 Nvidia has received some criticism from enthusiasts concerning the price of its RTX cards and the relative of lack of game support at present. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "AMD's CEO Lisa Su confirms ray tracing GPU development, hints at more 3rd-gen Ryzen cores," 9 Jan. 2019 That was a veiled criticism of President Trump’s efforts to weaken China in an attempt to strengthen the U.S. negotiating position on trade. — Eric Morath, WSJ, "Fed Faces a Fresh Test: Engineering a Soft Economic Landing," 6 Jan. 2019 News of Mosley’s behavior sparked a wave of criticism from public officials and others. — Scott Berson, sacbee, "Lawmaker caught driving 97 mph told deputy he had ‘immunity.’ Was he right?," 13 July 2018 Facebook largely reversed that ban later, but the company has still faced criticism over its handling of the problem. — Colin Lecher, The Verge, "Facebook imposters are trying to swindle users out of bitcoin," 18 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'criticism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.