† ˈover-ˈcritic Obs.
[over- 29 d.]
One who is critical to excess; a hypercritic.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Devon (1662) 269 Let no over⁓critick causlesly cavill at this Coat. |
So ˈover-ˈcritical a. [over- 28], too critical, hypercritical; ˈover-ˈcriticism, the practice of being over-critical, hypercriticism.
| 1851 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 1 Sept. (1966) 161 She..is inclined to be over-critical & fastidious with everybody & everything. 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. II. v. 102 The habit of over⁓criticism, a hindrance to pleasantness. 1893 Chicago Advance 31 Aug., Hampered by..an over-critical spirit. 1946 Nature 28 Sept. 457/1 The points of inflexion of various thermodynamical functions in the overcritical region. 1976 J. Wilson Let's Pretend v. 57 Lately she'd been over-critical of Margaret, finding her exasperating instead of endearing. |