criticism
noun
crit·i·cism
| \ ˈkri-tə-ˌsi-zəm
\
\
Definition of criticism
1a
: the act of criticizing usually unfavorably
seeking encouragement rather than criticism
b
: a critical observation or remark
an unfair criticism had a minor criticism of the design
c
: critique
2
: the art of evaluating or analyzing works of art or literature
also
: writings expressing such evaluation or analysis
an anthology of literary criticism
3
: the scientific investigation of literary documents (such as the Bible) in regard to such matters as origin, text, composition, or history