faultfinding
faultfinding — 名詞
1. the habit of complaining about small or unimportant problems with what someone d
吹毛求疵
對小事不停挑剔的行為
the habit of complaining about small or unimportant problems with what someone does, often in a way that seems unfair or unkind.
Walid grew tired of his mother-in-law's constant faultfinding about how he cooked the rice.
Walid 受夠了岳母對他煮飯方式沒完沒了的吹毛求疵。
faultfinding about + how-clause; common in family/domestic contexts
The new manager replaced endless faultfinding with clear, written feedback after each project.
新主管不再無止盡地挑剔，每個專案結束後改用清楚的書面回饋。
collocation: endless / constant faultfinding
Ada quit the choir because she could no longer bear the conductor's daily faultfinding.
Ada 退出合唱團，因為她再也受不了指揮每天的吹毛求疵。
Too much faultfinding from parents can make a child afraid to try anything new.
父母過多的挑剔，可能讓孩子害怕嘗試任何新事物。
- nitpicking
informal; same idea of complaining about tiny details
- carping
formal; suggests continuous, irritating criticism
- quibbling
criticism focused on trivial points, often in an argument
- praise
expression of approval, the opposite stance
- encouragement
support meant to help someone keep trying
文法句型
faultfinding about + noun
constant/endless + faultfinding
用法筆記
Always uncountable and almost always negative; the speaker disapproves of the criticism, not just the act of pointing things out. Distinguish from neutral words like 'feedback' or 'criticism', which can be fair and useful.
常見錯誤
faultfinding — 形容詞
- faultfindingpositive
- more faultfindingcomparative
- most faultfindingsuperlative
1. always looking for and pointing out what is wrong with people or things, in a wa
愛挑剔的
總是找毛病、令人厭煩的
always looking for and pointing out what is wrong with people or things, in a way that other people find unfair or annoying.
Hassan dreaded the weekly meetings with his faultfinding supervisor at the bank.
Hassan 很怕每週要和銀行那位愛挑剔的主管開會。
attributive use: faultfinding + person noun
Even on her birthday, Padma's faultfinding aunt complained about the colour of the cake.
就連在 Padma 生日當天，那位愛挑剔的阿姨還在嫌蛋糕的顏色。
common collocation: faultfinding + family-role noun
The review was so faultfinding that the chef burst into tears in the kitchen.
那篇評論挑剔到讓主廚在廚房裡當場落淚。
Ilan softened his faultfinding tone after he saw how hard the students had worked.
Ilan 看到學生這麼努力後，便緩和了原本愛挑剔的語氣。
- critical
broader; can be neutral or fair, while faultfinding suggests unfair
- censorious
very formal; suggests strong moral disapproval
- captious
rare and very formal; same picky meaning
- supportive
actively helping and encouraging instead of criticising
- appreciative
noticing and praising good points
文法句型
a faultfinding + noun (person)
be + faultfinding
用法筆記
Almost always carries a negative judgement of the critic, not the thing being criticised. Frequently modifies people (boss, parent, teacher, critic) or things they produce (tone, review, letter, look).