self-criticism.

1. The judging of your own actions, beliefs, or abilities, usually with attention to faults or possible improvements.

2. A formal public confession of supposed political errors, especially within a party or ideological organization.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• constructive self-criticism
• excessive self-criticism

On the page

Her self-criticism became useful only when it led to a specific change.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable for private evaluation; formal statement singular self-criticism, plural self-criticisms. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, interpretation. Commonness: moderately common.