10 Words and Phrases for Criticizing and Blaming

10 Words and Phrases for Criticizing and Blaming

Hi English learners! Welcome to a new lesson. We will look at some useful words and phrases for criticizing and blaming.

Here is the list:

• Blame
• Reprimand
• Get at someone
• Put someone down
• Bad-mouth
• Come under fire
• Under siege
• Find fault with
• Point the finger at someone
• Face the music

Blame

Meaning: to say or think that somebody is guilty of doing or saying something bad.

• Whenever he eats too much, Sara’s husband blames her.
• The police blame the accident on the bus driver.

Reprimand

Meaning: to tell someone officially that they’ve done or said something wrong.

• The boy was reprimanded by the teacher for not listening.
• The journalist was reprimanded for insulting a foreign diplomat.

Get at someone

Meaning: to criticize someone repeatedly.

• My senior colleague is getting at me for days and I have no idea why.
• Drew tried to get at me but I didn’t let him.

Put someone down

Meaning; to criticise someone especially when other people are around.

• Abby was sick of her husband putting her down in front of her friends and decided to leave him.
• It was really nasty of you to put me down like that. 

Badmouth (bad-mouth)

Meaning: to say something bad about someone to other people.

• Len’s flatmates badmouthed him to the landlord and now he’s got to find a new flat.
• If you bad-mouth your colleagues they might tell your boss a few things about you.

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Come under fire

Meaning: to be criticized.

• The minister has come under fire for his approval of the new law of taxes.
• The opposition came under fire from the government.

Under siege

Meaning: to be criticized all the time or by many people.

• The journalist was under siege by lots of people for his article in the Daily Telegraph.
• The businessman remains under siege for money laundering.

Find fault with

Meaning: to complain about someone’s behaviour.

• The couple lived happily until she began to find fault with his behaviour.
• My mother is always finding fault with my manners.

Point the finger at someone

Meaning: to accuse someone of doing something bad.

• When the nuclear disaster happened, the executives pointed the finger at a few engineers.
• When the police asked him about the stolen goods he pointed the finger at his mates.

Face the music

Meaning; to accept criticism or responsibility for something you’ve done wrong.

• When they asked him about the night of the robbery, he decided to face the music and tell them all about it.
• Sooner or later, you’ll have to face the music and tell your mum about the broken window.