to find fault
15
4.4
- phrasal verb
- /faɪnd fɔlt/
:
buscarle defectos a
- You find fault with everything I do and everything I say.
- too find fault
- often find fault
Or one who we supposed a true friend finds fault and quarrels with us.
- Or one who we supposed a true friend finds fault and quarrels with us.
- It's easy to find fault in what you do instead of finding fault in what they do.
- So he goes on and he says, if you act in this way, you will never blame the gods nor find fault with them for neglecting you.
- We all are attracted to who we're attracted to and I could find fault with almost any types of pairings.
Examples
-
We focus on what is possible instead of finding fault.
Academic text (2006) -
I think the community's willingness to find fault in this area is actually a sign of immaturity.
Blog text (27) -
It's easy to find fault in what you do instead of finding fault in what they do.
-
Is it not a brother's job to find fault with his sister?
-
It's always easy to stand off and find fault.
-
No matter what girlfriend of mine I mentioned to him, he found fault with her.
Fiction book (1998) -
Their expectations rise, and they start finding faults in everything, even their own actions.
Blog text (10) -
The typical focus of public comments is on finding fault with, rather than possible improvements to, an agency's proposal.
Academic text (1997) -
Your supervisor finds fault more than he or she pays compliments.
Academic text (1993) -
It's common for people to find fault with others instead of improving themselves.
Synonyms
701
3.3
To say what is wrong with someone or something
156
3.5
To say mean things to someone again and again because they seem weaker
50
4.3
To blame someone for a mistake or problem
33
7.6
To scold someone strongly for doing something wrong
21
5.6
To criticize someone or something harshly
21
5.7
To complain about very small unimportant mistakes
14
5.2
To find faults in ideas or work by pointing out small problems
5
4.3
To find and show weak points in an idea or plan
1
7.2
To find and point out weak points in an idea, plan or argument
Antonyms
How Critical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to criticize' is directly derivable from combining 'find' (to discover/locate) with 'fault' (a defect or to blame): literally to discover faults, i.e. to point out mistakes. This compositional verb + noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows predictable semantics, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Find fault may come from the simple act of looking closely at something and seeing a fault, meaning a 'problem' in the thing. That's why find fault now means 'to criticize someone or something'.