What does criticise mean?
Word: Criticise
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Criticise means to say what you think is wrong or bad about someone or something. It can also mean to judge a book, film or painting and say what is good and bad in it.
Synonyms: blame, judge, find fault
Antonyms: admire
How do you spell criticise?
Syllables: crit - i - cise
Tricky part: The s sound just before the ending is written with a c, not an s, so critisise is the usual slip.
Watch out for: critisise, critcise, criticeise
Memory tip: The s sound just before the end is a sharp c: think of a film judge's Cold, Icy Stare, c-i-s, followed by the final e.
Criticise in a sentence
Example 1: Please do not criticise your sister's drawing; help her fix it.
Example 2: The coach did not criticise anyone after we lost the match.
Example 3: Newspapers often criticise the government when roads are full of potholes.
Fun Fact
The word goes back to a Greek word meaning able to judge, so in its oldest sense a person who criticises is acting as a judge. British English also accepts a spelling with z.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
criticise
a) grumble
b) tease
c) praise
d) scold
Show answer
c) praise. To praise is to say good things; scolding, teasing and grumbling all point at faults or bother someone.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) criticise
b) apolagise
c) excercise
d) advertice
Show answer
a) criticise. Spot the slips in the others: an a in apologise, an extra c in exercise and a c in advertise.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
critticise
a) s
b) i
c) t
d) c
Show answer
c) t. Critic has a single t, and so does criticise.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
sitceciri
a) criticise
b) citricise
c) crticiise
d) ciritcise
Show answer
a) criticise. Find critic first; the three letters left make the ending.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Riya's brother criticised her drawing. He ____.
a) put it up on the wall
b) said what was wrong with it
c) helped her colour it in
d) made a neat copy of it
Show answer
b) said what was wrong with it
2. The coach criticised the team for dropping catches. The players probably felt ____.
a) thrilled
b) proud
c) rewarded
d) upset
Show answer
d) upset
