mindmap root((批评)) critical may imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge or value it fairly: a ~ essay on modern drama. hypercritical suggests a tendency to lose objectivity and to judge by unreasonably strict standards: petty, ~ disparagement of other people's success. faultfinding implies persistent, picayune, often ill-informed criticism, and a querulous or exacting temperament: a ~ theatre reviewer. captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds: no point is too minute for this ~ critic to overlook. carping implies an ill-natured or perverse finding of faults: the ~ editorial writer soon wearied readers. censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory: the ~ tone of the papal encyclical.