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。
abstract subject pattern: '[quantity] of faultfinding'
- constant faultfinding
- endless faultfinding
- petty faultfinding
- faultfinding about
- tired of faultfinding
- 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。
predicative use: be + faultfinding (about a text or comment)
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。
- faultfinding boss
- faultfinding parent
- faultfinding tone
- faultfinding review
- 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).
常見錯誤
同根字
- fault名詞B1
- faulty形容詞B2
- faultless形容詞C1
- faultfinder名詞C2