kritiikkiä

Kritiikkiä is the partitive form of the Finnish noun kritiikki, meaning criticism or critique. The term refers to the act of evaluating or analyzing a work or statement, as well as the content produced by such evaluation. It is used in contexts ranging from literary and artistic critique to public and political commentary. Kritiikkiä can describe both negative and positive assessments and may aim to be constructive as well as evaluative.

The word is etymologically borrowed into Finnish from Swedish kritik, which in turn comes from the French critique or Latin critĭcus, ultimately from Greek kritikos meaning 'able to judge'. In Finnish, kritiikki as a field includes professional and amateur criticism, often carried out by a kriitikko (critic) or reviewer. The everyday use also appears in phrases like antaa kritiikkiä (to give criticism) or saada kritiikkiä (to receive criticism).

In Finnish discourse, kritiikkiä is distinguished from arvostelu, which commonly refers to a formal review of a work, such as a movie review (elokuvan arvostelu). Kritiikki can be broader and more analytical, situating a work within its historical or theoretical context. Critics may examine formal qualities, themes, ethics, or reception, and their assessments can influence public dialogue as well as scholarly debate.