overcritical

O1V4E1R1C3R1I1T1I1C3A1L1

adjective

Excessively critical.

Similar
hypercriticalcritical
Opposite
noncriticaluncritical
OriginEnglish critical ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Latin criticus →
Scrabble 19
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectiveovercritical (comparative more overcritical, superlative most overcritical)

comparative more overcritical · superlative most overcritical

  1. Excessively critical.

    Antonyms: noncritical, uncritical

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveExcessively critical.

Opposite
noncriticaluncritical

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveinclined to judge too severely

Similar
hypercriticalcritical
Also see
censoriouscriticalfastidioushypercriticalnitty

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Germanic*uber
  4. Old Englishofer-
  5. Middle Englishover-
  6. Englishover-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*krey-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*krinyéti
  9. Proto-Hellenic*kríňňō
  10. Ancient Greekκρῑ́νω (krī́nō)
  11. Ancient Greekκρῐ- (krĭ-)
  12. Ancient Greekκρῐτής (krĭtḗs)
  13. Ancient Greekκριτικός (kritikós)
  14. Latincriticus
  15. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  16. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  17. Englishcritical
  18. Englishovercritical

From over- + critical.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

overcritical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overcritical

MLA

“overcritical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overcritical. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overcritical,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overcritical.

Source: overcritical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.