Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of criticaster.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word criticasters.

Examples

  • It is banalities like these that cause one sometimes to feel tempted to turn and rend the criticasters by some violent outburst against Shakespeare himself.

    The Palace of Pleasure, Volume 1 William Painter

  • Fuller, especially in this century, he has given us a circumstantial account of the censures which were denounced on him by microscopic and malevolent criticasters and Dryasdusts among his contemporaries.

    Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 87, March, 1875 Various

  • Now we admit that the page presents a fairer appearance with single punctuations, unblurred by Italics, and its smooth surface unbroken by strings of capitals; -- but let us ask these criticasters for what purpose types were cast at all.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 82, August, 1864 Various

  • So, even if, as the ponderous criticasters are continually pointing out, the age of _bel canto_ is really passing there is no actual occasion for grief.

    The Merry-Go-Round Carl Van Vechten 1922

  • This is true not only of the forgotten criticasters, but of the most famous, the most widely read and the most authoritative literary historians of the time, such as Gervinus and Vilmar.

    The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller Thomas, Calvin, 1854-1919 1901

  • Everything, even the language (and here was a stumbling-block with most of the critics and criticasters), was subordinated to dramatic exigencies: though the subordination was in conformity with a novel shaping method.

    Life of Robert Browning Sharp, William, 1855-1905 1897

  • There are criticasters not a few who would denounce Thackeray and Besant and Mr. Kipling as arrant plagiarists; but critics of a more delicate perception of the principles of art would rather praise these authors for the ingenuity with which they had successively made use of Cooper's original device.

    Inquiries and Opinions Brander Matthews 1890

  • Indeed, the same tale told by Richardson and by Sterne, altho they were contemporary sentimentalists, would have had so little in common that the careless reader might fail to see any similarity whatsoever; and probably even the pettiest of criticasters would feel no call to bring an accusation of plagiarism against either of them.

    Inquiries and Opinions Brander Matthews 1890

  • Shakspere to-day is the prey of the commentators and of the criticasters, but in his own time Shakspere was the most popular of the Elizabethan playwrights -- so popular that his name was tagged to plays he had not written, in order that the public might be tempted to take them into favor.

    Inquiries and Opinions Brander Matthews 1890

  • This is true not only of the forgotten criticasters, but of the most famous, the most widely read and the most authoritative literary historians of the time, such as Gervinus and Vilmar.

    The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller Calvin Thomas 1886

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Third-rate, mean-spirited critics.

    May 14, 2008