animadversion
/ˌænɪmædˈvɜːʒən/
animadversion means A criticism, a critical remark. It carries an Arena rating of 1608, earned across 28 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, animadversion ranks #987 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,910 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #2,691 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #3,663 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
animadversion is pronounced /ˌænɪmædˈvɜːʒən/.
Why “animadversion” is a great word
ANIMADVERSION — [Noun] A critical or censorious remark or observation. From Middle French animadversion and its etymon Latin animadversiō ("observation, criticism"), from animadvertere ("to turn the mind to"), from animus ("mind") + advertere ("to turn to"). First attested in English in the 1590s. Unlike a "critique," which implies a formal and balanced evaluation, or a neutral "observation," which merely notes, an animadversion is a turning of the mind expressly to find fault. It is the barbed aside at a dinner party, the cold footnote in an academic treatise, or the hissed correction from a disapproving elder—the mind's punitive turn toward perceived error, a small, sharp pivot where notice becomes reproach.
Etymology
From Middle French animadversion and its etymon Latin animadversiō (“observation, criticism”), from animadvertō (“to pay attention”), from animus (“mind”) + advertō (“to turn to”).
noun
- A criticism, a critical remark.e.g.“[A] misconstruction or misinterpretation, nay, the misplacing of a comma, was in Gifford's eyes a crime worthy of the most severe animadversion.” — January 1827, Sir Walter Scott, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott:
- The state or characteristic of being animadversive.e.g.“He was deceived; for justice hath also knowledge and animadversion over such as gather stubble (as the common saying is) or looke about for grape-seed.” — 1603, (translator unknown), Essayes, volumes 5-6, translation of original by Michel de Montaigne, pages 3–4:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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