CRITICIZE


Meaning of CRITICIZE in English

crit ‧ i ‧ cize W3 BrE AmE ( also criticise British English ) /ˈkrɪtəsaɪz, ˈkrɪtɪsaɪz/ verb

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ critic , ↑ criticism ; verb : ↑ criticize ; adverb : ↑ critically ≠ ↑ uncritically ; adjective : ↑ critical ≠ ↑ uncritical ]

1 . [intransitive and transitive] to express your disapproval of someone or something, or to talk about their faults OPP praise :

Ron does nothing but criticize and complain all the time.

be strongly/sharply/heavily criticized

The decision has been strongly criticized by teachers.

The new law has been widely criticized.

criticize somebody/something for (doing) something

He has been criticized for incompetence.

Doctors have criticized the government for failing to invest enough in the health service.

criticize somebody/something as something

The report has been criticized as inaccurate and incomplete.

2 . [transitive] formal to express judgments about the good and bad qualities of something:

We look at each other’s work and criticize it.

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COLLOCATIONS

■ adverbs

▪ strongly/severely/heavily criticize somebody/something

Public transport has been severely criticized in the report.

▪ sharply/harshly/fiercely criticize somebody/something (=in an angry way)

His attorney sharply criticized the police yesterday.

▪ be widely criticized

The proposal was widely criticized.

▪ publicly criticize somebody/something

The head coach publicly criticized the referee’s decision.

▪ roundly criticize somebody/something (=strongly and severely)

Their research has been roundly criticized.

▪ openly criticize somebody/something (=in a public and direct way)

They openly criticized the government’s handling of the crisis.

▪ repeatedly/frequently/constantly criticize

The fashion industry is frequently criticized for presenting extremely thin models as beautiful.

■ phrases

▪ be quick to criticize somebody/something

Some groups were quick to criticize the President.

▪ criticize somebody/something on the grounds that (=for the reason that)

The survey was criticized on the grounds that the sample was too small.

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THESAURUS

▪ criticize to say what you think is bad about someone or something:

He was criticized for not being tough enough with the terrorists.

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Stop criticizing my friends!

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It’s easy to criticize, but not so easy to offer helpful solutions.

▪ be critical of somebody/something to criticize someone or something, especially by giving detailed reasons for this:

The report was highly critical of the police investigation.

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The press have been critical of his leadership style.

▪ attack to criticize someone or something very strongly, especially publicly in the newspapers, on TV etc:

They attacked the government’s decision to undertake nuclear weapons tests.

▪ lay into somebody/tear into somebody to criticize someone very strongly for something they have done, especially by shouting at them:

He started laying into one of his staff for being late.

▪ tear somebody/something to shreds to find a lot of things wrong with someone’s arguments or ideas and make them seem very weak:

The prosecution will tear him to shreds.

▪ pan to strongly criticize a film, play etc in the newspapers, on TV etc:

Her first movie was panned by the critics.

▪ be pilloried especially written to be strongly criticized by a lot of people in the newspapers, on TV etc:

He was pilloried in the right-wing press.

▪ condemn to say very strongly in public that you do not approve of something or someone, especially because you think they are morally wrong:

Politicians were quick to condemn the bombing.

■ to criticize unfairly

▪ find fault with somebody/something to criticize things that you think are wrong with something, especially small and unimportant things:

He’s quick to find fault with other people’s work.

▪ pick holes in something informal to criticize something by finding many small faults in it, in a way that seems unreasonable and unfair:

Why are you always picking holes in my work?

▪ knock to criticize someone or something, in an unfair and unreasonable way:

I know it’s fashionable to knock Tony Blair, but I think he did a good job.

▪ slag off British English informal to criticize someone in an unfair and unpleasant way:

He’s always slagging you off behind your back.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.