Criticism is when you mention every bad thing about something or someone and also state some good things you can note.
This has to do with an unbiased review of something or someone, compiling both the bad and good features of something. It differs from condemnation since condemnation focuses on the bad.
Criticism can become condemnation if nothing good can be stated by the subject of the review. However, criticism, even with good features, can be a façade for condemnation. When a person criticizes you always, he/she may simply want perfection or can’t be satisfied.
A person who criticizes everything you do can be called a ‘Perfectionist’ if he/she is truly honest about wanting perfection. You can also call the person ‘Picky’ if you find him/her troubling.
What do you call someone who criticizes everything you do?
The English Dictionary features several adjectives and nouns for a person who overtly criticizes things. Most of them have underlying means and some do not directly mean the act of criticizing.
You get to choose which nouns or adjectives to use, depending on what you think fuels the excessive criticism from him/her. Here are 15 of the words we can find.
- Perfectionist
- Hypocritical
- Egotistic
- Fault-finding
- Hard-to-please
- Critic
- Narcissistic
- Castigator
- Cynic
- Bossy
- Finicky
- Hypercritical
- Judgmental
- Censorious
- Choosy
Perfectionist
A perfectionist is a person who wants everything around him/her to be perfect or in the best way he/she can think of.
A perfectionist strives to make himself or herself look or do things in the best way they can be. He/she also openly criticizes the work of others, especially if they are called to it.
‘Perfectionist’ is a positive word and may flatter some people. You can use this to avoid insulting the person you are referring to.
Example:
- I’m not a perfectionist. There are just so many ways this can be better. Let’s work together.
Hypocritical
When you stand up against a person who is heavily criticizing you, it would seem as though you are not good at taking criticism. Some people claim to criticize you while actually condemning you.
In this case, you will never satisfy them or, rather, they just will never admit that you’ve done something okay so they always have something negative to say.
You can call such a person hypocritical if he/she always makes the little bad seem as though it outweighs all the good characteristics of something.
A hypocritical person is one who pretends and deceives. Expect a hypocritical person to put up a façade of criticism while actually trying to condemn your work.
He/she will always bring up a bad comment out of thin air and fake disappointment. There is also a chance that he/she isn’t even as good as you.
Example:
- That’s hypocritical of you. Let’s see how you fare doing the same thing.
Egotistic
Criticism is good and should always be accepted. However, there are some situations where criticism is unnecessary, and getting anyone may just be annoying.
If you don’t think a person should be criticizing a particular action or he/she always criticizes everything till it’s good enough for him/her, then he/she may just be egotistic.
An egotist is a person who believes himself or herself to be better than others and demands attention and respect from others.
While criticism is okay, it shouldn’t be forcefully asking for changes, especially in situations that don’t concern the egotist.
An egotist intrudes in matters of attention and tries to appear intelligent by stating how bad something is and how it can be better.
Egotistic people may be helpful at times but the constant criticism can unsettle you over trivial matters.
Example:
- She is just an egotist. You don’t have to change anything.
Fault-finding
Criticism is not very far from condemnation. Elements of condemnation can be found in criticism. However, criticism can be full condemnation of the suggested fixes are impossible.
A person may refuse to accept something as perfect simply because it’s being done by a particular person. Therefore, to avoid condemning, he/she says how it may be better but those suggestions are unrealistic.
You can call this person fault-finding since it can’t get much better than it already is.
A fault-finding person is one who always has something bad to say about an action, an idea, or a person. This kind of person will criticize everything without considering how realistic they are.
This habit comes from the cynical belief that a person isn’t qualified enough or he/she hasn’t put enough effort into something.
Anyone can be fault-finding if we doubt the person or thing we are reviewing.
Example:
- I don’t mean to be fault-finding but this will be quite obvious to my boss. Let’s amend it.
Hard-to-please
A person who criticizes something is definitely not fully pleased with it. While stating what is good about an action or idea, he/she states how it can get better.
This shows that the person would prefer if his/her suggestions were added. However, if you include the person’s suggestions and he/she still criticizes, then he/she is simply hard to please.
A person who’s hard to please will consistently criticize everything. Such a person can be compared to a perfectionist. However, a hard-to-please person may simply be fault-finding.
When a person is hard to please, he/she is either very choosy or just cynical about how good a person or thing can be.
Example:
- I’m not that hard to please. Just fix this and we’re done.
Critic
This is the general word for whether or not a person is actually criticizing something for the best reason. You can use this word if the person simply wants something to be better.
You can also use this word if he/she is unnecessarily and annoyingly choosy. This is a positive word so you’ll avoid offending the person.
A critic is a person who analyzes something or someone to state facts on the good and bad features. This refers to anyone who makes an honest analysis.
This kind of person may criticize some trivial matters but you are sure that he/she won’t be condemning. Also, you get to know when he/she is honestly impressed.
Example:
- I know you’re a critic but stay in your lane, please.
Narcissistic
Criticism is fine but it doesn’t have to come from everyone. You can criticize a random thing but, as long as it’s random, you don’t have to care so much about how your criticism is affected.
However, there are critics who believe their opinions are important and must be considered by everyone. This is called Narcissism. Criticism is generally narcissistic, as the critic portrays himself or herself as a better person than whoever is being criticized.
A narcissist is a person who considers himself or herself better and more important than others. This trait reveals itself in a person’s words and actions.
A narcissist tries to demean others while portraying himself or herself as nearly perfect. Such a person wants to be always the topic in everyone’s positive discussion.
Example:
- That’s s narcissistic. Your opinion was not requested in the first place.
Castigator
This is the word for a person whose criticisms always focus on the bad and are always harsh. While criticism should be different from condemnation, some criticisms are false.
A person can mention one good thing about you like it’s nothing, then state the bad things about you so emphatically that the good feature is forgotten.
While criticism should state how something can be managed despite how bad it is, condemnation states why it cannot be managed.
Therefore, if your criticism is focusing on the negative sides of its topic, it is more of a condemnation (or castigation).
A castigator is a person who makes harsh condemnations, often publicly. While a castigator may be honest with his/her reviews, he/she may be simply narcissistic or hard to please.
A castigator is anyone that condemns something whether it’s made to seem like criticism or not.
Example:
- I’m not a castigator. I’m just stating facts.
Cynic
There are certain characteristics that make a person want to criticize a person or something. A jealous person may criticize another while just stylishly mentioning every fault to give a reason for condemnation.
Another trait that makes a person criticize everything is Cynicism. When you find it hard to trust that a person or thing is doing good enough, you can easily make up reasons to find faults and judge.
A cynic is a person who doubts the morality behind the actions of others. When a cynic is criticizing you, he/she will look for actions that justify the suspicions that he/she already has.
A cynic believes that the actions of every person are fueled by selfishness and immorality, and will not accept that a person is perfect or even good in any way.
Example:
- Stop being a cynic. He’s the best you can get.
Bossy
Sometimes, it feels like critics want to control everything. Maybe that is true. If you watch movies and read reviews, you must have noticed how the reviews of critics often differ from those of the audience.
While, sometimes, critic ratings can be very close to the ratings of the audience, critic ratings can be quite distant from that of the audience. While the critics may rate a movie very low, the audience can give it high ratings and vice-versa.
In both cases, it can seem like the critics and the audience are trying to control how the story is told while the story isn’t theirs to tell.
A bossy person is one who tries to control how everything goes, even when he/she shouldn’t be concerned. If the person criticizing you wants you to use his/her suggestions necessarily and always, you can call him/her bossy.
Unless it’s your boss who has the right to be bossy, no unaffected person should force you to make changes to your work.
Example:
- He can be pretty bossy but he’s the boss, anyway.
Finicky
When a person is hard to please, there will always be something to say. While certain fixes should be able to shut the mouth of a critic, there are critics who will have new complaints immediately after you fix the old ones.
A finicky person is one who is extremely choosy and difficult to satisfy. This kind of person wants his/her things very specific so you have to be perfect or there will be complaints. He/she may also have unreasonable demands which make your several redoes ineffective in satisfying him/her.
A finicky person may not necessarily want to stress you but he/she is finding it hard that a piece of work can’t get any better or can be managed.
Example:
- I’m not being finicky. This just won’t work for us.
Hypercritical
There are critics and there are hypercritics. While ‘Critic’ can refer to both people, they aren’t the same. For someone who criticizes everything, the most correct word to use is ‘Hypercritical’.
A hypercritic is a person who is overtly and unwarrantedly critical. This kind of person does more of condemnation by complaining excessively and criticizing situations or things that he/she should not be concerned about.
A hypercritic can be very difficult to deal with but a more positive word would be ‘Critic’.
Example:
- My boss is hypercritical. Just do the best you can.
Judgmental
This is the word for a critic of persons and behaviors. However, this kind of person doesn’t just criticize people but also condemns them.
A judgmental person is one who is quick to pass judgment on others. This kind of critic notes the bad features in a person’s actions and judges quickly.
A judgmental person simply judges based on what is before him/her at the moment. This can make his/her judgment too early and wrong.
Example:
- I know I’m judgmental at times. Pardon me.
Censorious
Here is another word for a judgmental person. However, this doesn’t focus on persons alone but also actions and ideas.
A censorious person is one who is addicted to criticizing others and passes judgment hastily. This kind of person is often wrong as he/she may not assimilate ideas before condemning them.
A censorious person is often demeaning and narcissistic, believing his/her ideas to be superior and always wanting the attention to be on him/her.
Example:
- That man is censorious. He rarely considers his own comments.
Choosy
This is a simple word for many critics. Your boss may fall into this category. Many critics are not called into the situation but they jump in with their opinions simply because what they see isn’t what they would prefer to see.
Some people are concerned but won’t accept something that’s already good enough just because they want it to be in a certain way.
A choosy person is one who takes time to choose things that suit his/her taste. A choosy critic has specific requirements and only needs them to be fulfilled for him/her to be satisfied.
A choosy person isn’t necessarily a perfectionist since it is not often about perfection. A choosy person is also not necessarily difficult to please since he/she simply needs to be given what is asked.
Example:
- He’s that choosy but this isn’t about him so I don’t care.
The most correct word for someone who criticizes everything is ‘Hypercritical’. A nicer word to use is ‘Critic’ which refers to a person who analyzes the good and bad sides of something.
However, ‘Hypercritical’ is the word for a person who enjoys criticizing things and does it excessively and unduly.
