petty criticism
1
4.6
- noun
- /ˈpɛti ˈkrɪtɪsɪzəm/
:
crítica trivial
- He is an articulate and heartfelt man who has certainly endured his share of petty criticism, slander, and outright racism.
Examples
-
As for the rest of this piece, it is a petty criticism and, frankly, funny that you admit you didn't even realize it until Clarence Thomas pointed it out.
Blog text (15) -
To me, this comes across as petty criticism of Fox News.
Blog text (32) -
They need not be concerned with petty criticisms but instead recall the words of Don Quixote, that he could be insulted only by an equal.
Blog text (31) -
Despite my previous response to N-G to stem perennial petty criticism and having slept on the animosity that erupted the last couple of days between me and others, it is my wish to put an end to it.
Blog text (18) -
The report was filled with petty criticism that distracted from the main issue.
-
Instead of addressing the real problems, she focused on petty criticism of his attire.
-
His petty criticism of her suggestions only served to undermine the team's morale.
Synonyms
4
8.6
Repeated small complaints about unimportant things that are not fair and often annoy people
Arguing about small unimportant details to avoid making a decision
Arguing about small unimportant details that wastes time and annoys people
Showing that someone or something has little value
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'criticism that is trivial or unimportant' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'petty' (of little consequence; trivial) with 'criticism' (expressing disapproval). This adjective + noun composition follows standard compositional semantics and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand the MWE.
Etymology
Petty criticism comes from the idea of complaints that are very small: petty means 'small' and criticism means pointing out faults, like someone picking at a tiny thread on a shirt instead of fixing the big problem. That's why it now means 'complaints about unimportant things'.