criticaster
nounEtymology From critic + -aster.
1
A petty or charlatan critic.
- [H]e rather overdoes it, and so puzzles his enemies in the play, and certain German criticasters and English mad doctors in the closet, and does not puzzle his bosom friend in the play one bit, nor the pit for whom he was created.1903, Charles Reade, Hard Cash: A Matter-of-fact Romance, page 439:
- [T]he whys & the wherefores, that's so much waffle for the judges with their black caps & powdered wigs, for the criticasters & their like: guilt, sin, motivation, inspiration, what is good, what is bad—who knows?2001, Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish, Vintage, published 2016, page 53:
- Derived terms
- criticasterism, criticastry