hypercritical

adjective

ˌhī-pər-ˈkri-ti-kəl How to pronounce hypercritical (audio)
Definition of hypercriticalnext
as in critical
given to making or expressing unfavorable judgments about things if you go by what that hypercritical reviewer says, you are going to end up seeing very few movies

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How does the adjective hypercritical contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of hypercritical are captious, carping, censorious, critical, and faultfinding. While all these words mean "inclined to look for and point out faults and defects," hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards.

hypercritical disparagement of other people's work

Where would captious be a reasonable alternative to hypercritical?

The meanings of captious and hypercritical largely overlap; however, captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds.

a captious critic

When would carping be a good substitute for hypercritical?

Although the words carping and hypercritical have much in common, carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws.

a carping editorial

When can censorious be used instead of hypercritical?

The words censorious and hypercritical can be used in similar contexts, but censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory.

the censorious tone of the review

When could critical be used to replace hypercritical?

While in some cases nearly identical to hypercritical, critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly.

a critical essay

When is it sensible to use faultfinding instead of hypercritical?

In some situations, the words faultfinding and hypercritical are roughly equivalent. However, faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament.

a faultfinding reviewer

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hypercritical On a recent episode of The View, the actress mused that the singing competition is responsible for igniting a hypercritical culture in which everyone is obsessed with judging one another. —Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 26 May 2023 Again, that's hypercritical with every one of these songs. —Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 3 May 2023 This industry can be hypercritical of young women. —Taylor Mims, Billboard, 3 Dec. 2020 As for most situations in life, hypercritical emotions just lead to negative spirals. —WIRED, 15 Mar. 2023 See all Example Sentences for hypercritical 

Thesaurus Entries Near hypercritical

hypercritic

hypercritical

hypercritically

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Cite this Entry

“Hypercritical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hypercritical. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

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Nglish: Translation of hypercritical for Spanish Speakers

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