pick apart
phrasal verb
picked apart; picking apart; picks apart
chiefly US
: to say all of the things that are bad or wrong about (someone or something) : to criticize (a person or thing) in a very detailed and usually unkind way
You can expect political analysts to pick apart the governor's speech.
The film's critics picked his performance apart.
Examples of pick apart in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Rams are missing a ton of pieces and their secondary is getting picked apart.
—
Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2024
Jon Stewart used Monday's episode of The Daily Show to pick apart all the reasons that people have given for supporting former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the November presidential election.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 1 Oct. 2024
But the excitement has been coupled with a flurry of rumors that have spread on TikTok, Reddit and X. Online, fans have increasingly gone viral for theorizing over dynamics behind-the-scenes between stars — picking apart various interviews, red carpet interactions, body language and more.
—Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 9 Aug. 2024
By nature, these films are primed to be over-dissected and picked apart for historical inaccuracies, flawed impressions, and limited perspectives.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for pick apart 
Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2024
Jon Stewart used Monday's episode of The Daily Show to pick apart all the reasons that people have given for supporting former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the November presidential election.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 1 Oct. 2024
But the excitement has been coupled with a flurry of rumors that have spread on TikTok, Reddit and X. Online, fans have increasingly gone viral for theorizing over dynamics behind-the-scenes between stars — picking apart various interviews, red carpet interactions, body language and more.
—Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 9 Aug. 2024
By nature, these films are primed to be over-dissected and picked apart for historical inaccuracies, flawed impressions, and limited perspectives.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for pick apart
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pick apart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pick apart
Cite this Entry
“Pick apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pick%20apart. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
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