criticism _noun

ADJECTIVES

strong, severe, heavy 
・The decision to build the road received strong criticism from environmental groups.

fierce, harsh, sharp, bitter
・The prison system has been the object of fierce criticism.

main
・My main criticism is that the film is too long.

major
・One major criticism is that the system is very complicated.

minor
・A minor criticism of the book is that the sections are not numbered.

valid
・In his article, he made a number of valid criticisms.

unfair
・I feel young people come in for a lot of unfair criticism.

constructive 
・I welcome constructive criticism of my work.

public 
・As a politician, you have to get used to public criticism.

widespread 
・There was widespread criticism of his speech.

growing, mounting
・The government last night faced mounting criticism over its plans to introduce a new higher rate of tax.

outspoken 
・I was surprised by his outspoken criticism of the system.

scathing
・The minister came in for scathing criticism from the press.

implied 
・She sensed the implied criticism in his remarks.

VERBS

make 
・The only criticism I would make is that the film was a little too long.

express, voice 
・The report expressed criticism of the way the police handled the situation.

face
・The United States faces international criticism because of its refusal to take part in the talks.

come under, come in for, be subjected to
・The new law came under fierce criticism.
・These arrangements have been subjected to considerable criticism.

receive, meet with 
・His theory met with harsh criticism from colleagues.

draw, attract, provoke
・The plan has drawn criticism from environmental groups.

accept, take
・I am not very good at taking criticism.

level at, direct at
・A great deal of criticism was levelled at the manager.

single out for
・The goalkeeper was singled out for criticism.

answer, address
・How would you answer their criticisms?

PREPOSITIONS

of
・There has been much criticism of the government’s housing policy.

PHRASES

be the subject/object of criticism 
・The club has been the subject of criticism since last October.

be open to criticism 
・The magazine is open to criticism for printing the article.

be sensitive to criticism
・He was highly sensitive to criticism in the press.

a storm/barrage of criticism 
・His comments provoked a barrage of criticism.