self-critical

/sɛlfˈkɹɪtɪkəl/

adjective

Capable of criticizing oneself; able to find mistakes and possibilities for improvement in one's own work.

OriginEnglish critical ← Middle English self- ← Old English self- →
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Meanings

adjectiveself-critical (comparative more self-critical, superlative most self-critical)

comparative more self-critical · superlative most self-critical

  1. Capable of criticizing oneself; able to find mistakes and possibilities for improvement in one's own work.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
autocritical

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishcritical
  9. Englishself-critical

From self- + critical.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan autocrític
  • autocríticcapable of criticizing oneself
Chinese Mandarin 律己嚴格的 /律己严格的, 自我批評的 /自我批评的
  • 律己嚴格的 /律己严格的 (lǜjǐ yángé de)capable of criticizing oneself
  • 自我批評的 /自我批评的 (zìwǒ pīpíng de)capable of criticizing oneself
Dutch zelfkritisch
  • zelfkritischcapable of criticizing oneself
Finnish itsekriittinen
  • itsekriittinencapable of criticizing oneself
French autocritique
  • autocritiquecapable of criticizing oneself
German selbstkritisch
  • selbstkritischcapable of criticizing oneself
Hungarian önkritikus
  • önkritikuscapable of criticizing oneself
Italian autocritico
  • autocriticocapable of criticizing oneself
Latvian paškritisks
  • paškritiskscapable of criticizing oneself
Lithuanian savikritiškas
  • savikritiškascapable of criticizing oneself
Polish samokrytyczny
  • samokrytycznycapable of criticizing oneself
Romanian autocritic
  • autocriticcapable of criticizing oneself
Russian самокритический
  • самокритический (samokritičeskij)capable of criticizing oneself
Slovak sebakritický
  • sebakritickýcapable of criticizing oneself
Spanish autocrítico
  • autocríticocapable of criticizing oneself
Swedish självkritisk
  • självkritiskcapable of criticizing oneself
Cite this entry
APA

self-critical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-critical

MLA

“self-critical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-critical. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-critical,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-critical.

Source: self-critical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.