hypercritical
adjective
Synonyms
- captious
- carping
- caviling
- cavilling
- critical
- faultfinding
- judgmental
- overcritical
- rejective
Example Sentences
Angela Lei, Forbes, 7 July 2022 Many have been fed a diet of hypercritical narratives of American history and skepticism about the U.S. role in the world by their teachers. Bill Drexel, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2022 For one thing, Betsey’s stubbornness widens the rift between Holly and her own mother, June (Lindsay Duncan), who has always been hypercritical. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2022 Even if the courts agree to give Spears her freedom, what about the prying media and the hypercritical public? Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 24 Sep. 2021 Portraying one of the greatest singers of all time on screen is no easy feat, particularly in the hypercritical age of social media. Brande Victorian, Essence, 12 Aug. 2021 Stop exposing your children and your pets to your abusive, hypercritical father’s rants, and if your mother notices and asks why, be honest with her. Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 14 June 2021 On today’s edition of Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan stormed off the set after his co-host, Alex Beresford, addressed his hypercritical remarks of Meghan Markle as of late. Mia Davis, Essence, 9 Mar. 2021 My mother would keep score, and my uncles — who were hypercritical of whatever the Sox were doing — would do a running play-by-play. Mike Hutton, chicagotribune.com, 11 Sep. 2020 See More Word History
1605, in the meaning defined above
hypercritical
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- critical
- overcritical
- judgmental
- captious
- faultfinding
- caviling
- carping
- rejective
- particular
- demanding
- cavilling
- merciless
- judicious
- finicky
- nitpicky
- discriminating
- fastidious
- discerning
- harsh
- picky
- finical
- pettifogging
- uncharitable
- fussy
- exacting
- unforgiving
- quibbling
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- uncritical
- undiscriminating
- forgiving
- undemanding
- charitable
- unfussy
Synonym Chooser
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.
The meanings of captious and hypercritical largely overlap; however, captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds.
Although the words carping and hypercritical have much in common, carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws.
The words censorious and hypercritical can be used in similar contexts, but censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory.
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.
In some situations, the words faultfinding and hypercritical are roughly equivalent. However, faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament.