criticize

crit‧i‧cize W3 ( also criticise British English ) / krɪtəsaɪz, krɪtɪsaɪz / 动词

1 [不及物和及物动词] to express your disapproval of someone or something, or to talk about their faults 反义词 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 [及物动词] formal to express judgments about the good and bad qualities of something :

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

COLLOCATIONS

副词

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.

短语

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.

THESAURUS

criticize to say what you think is bad about someone or something : He was criticized for not being tough enough with the terrorists. | Stop criticizing my friends! | 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. | 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.