hypercritical

adjective

hy·​per·​crit·​i·​cal ˌhī-pər-ˈkri-ti-kəl 

: meticulously or excessively critical

hypercritically

ˌhī-pər-ˈkri-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• captious
• carping
• caviling
• cavilling
• critical
• faultfinding
• judgmental
• overcritical
• rejective

Choose the Right Synonym for hypercritical

critical, hypercritical, faultfinding, captious, carping, censorious mean inclined to look for and point out faults and defects.

critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly.

a critical essay

hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards.

hypercritical disparagement of other people's work

faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament.

a faultfinding reviewer

captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds.

a captious critic

carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws.

a carping editorial

censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory.

the censorious tone of the review

Examples of hypercritical in a Sentence

if you go by what that hypercritical reviewer says, you are going to end up seeing very few movies

Recent Examples on the Web

Especially as a woman online, a lot of people are so hypercritical of that sort of thing. —Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Oct. 2024

Savvy and sophisticated, Vivian Kensington embodies Virgo's conservative and meticulous approach, which on the dark side, includes her hypercritical nature and tactical strategy to humiliate Elle Woods. —Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 12 July 2024

As child care advocate and author of Build Your Village, Florence Ann Romano notes Hilton is also offering a valuable lesson about positively navigating parenting and unsolicited feedback in today's hyperconnected (and hypercritical) world. —Mia Taylor, Parents, 30 May 2024

Milli Vanilli’s fanbase felt bamboozled to the point of suing the musicians for fraud and racketeering, and the media crucified Milli Vanilli daily, with coverage of the reveal ranging from hypercritical to flat-out mocking. —Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 27 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

hypercritical

adjective

hy·​per·​crit·​i·​cal ˌhī-pər-ˈkrit-i-kəl 

: too critical

hypercritically

-k(ə-)lē 

adverb