find fault

Related to find fault: assertive

find fault with (someone or something)

To find a problem or issue with someone or something; to judge someone or something harshly. Kristen will be single forever if she keeps finding fault with every man she dates. How could you find fault with this project? It met all of the requirements on the rubric.
See also: fault, find
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

find fault (with someone or something)

to find things wrong with someone or something. We were unable to find fault with his arguments. Sally's father was always finding fault with her.
See also: fault, find
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

find fault

Criticize, express dissatisfaction with, as in She was a difficult traveling companion, constantly finding fault with the hotel, meal service, and tour guides . [Mid-1500s]
See also: fault, find
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

find ˈfault (with somebody/something)

look for faults or mistakes in somebody/something, often so that you can criticize them/it: He’s always finding fault with the children, even when they are doing nothing wrong. I can find no fault with this essay; it’s the best I’ve ever read. OPPOSITE: sing somebody’s/something’s praises
See also: fault, find
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

find fault

To seek, find, and complain about faults; criticize: found fault with his speech.
See also: fault, find
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • be rough on (someone or something)
  • be/have done with somebody/something
  • bird has flown, the
  • be in line with (someone or something)
  • better of
  • (someone or something) promises well
  • begin with
  • begin with (someone or something)
  • beware of
  • beware of (someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
Why should Peter Gilmour in his September Odds & Ends column ("One world, under God") find fault with those words "one nation, under God" that are part of the Pledge of Allegiance?
What's your gripe? (Letters)
(I should, though; for there are always those who find fault.)
Amen to bible bloopers. (Letters)
The writing is the way my mind works." Critics, many of whom are still trying to find fault in her debut novel, would disagree.
The Mystique of Zadie Smith
Few conversant with the history of ancient Israel or with the Pentateuch would find fault with Carmichael's assertion that many of the rules of Leviticus 18-20 concern the preservation, if not the creation, of ethnic identity, and that this concern "may point to the lawgiver's own social reality" as a member of a distinct, displaced minority living in a foreign land.
Law, Legend, and Incest in the Bible: Leviticus 18-20
Those first ten or fifteen minutes back in the car will likely represent a family's chance to find fault.
Tour de force
One can continue to find fault with the hanging policy of the NPG as well as lament the gaps in its collection.
Portrait of the artist
"The Joint Commission is not coming here to find fault, to be disruptive, or to have the big hammer over our head.
The Subacute Saratoga story
Courts in several states, led by influential decisions in Minnesota[2] and Illinois,[3] began to question the old assumptions and find fault with ex parte interviews of physicians by defense counsel.[4] These courts reasoned, among other things, that there is an underlying duty of loyalty or a fiduciary obligation that binds the physician to the patient despite the exceptions in the physician-patient privilege and that there is or may be some residue of confidential information that the plaintiff did not consent to disclose by filing suit.
The physician-patient privilege: friend or foe?
It did, however, find fault with the transaction itself because the ESOP's fiduciaries did not take into account the "cash drain" from anticipated future contributions to the ESOP to repay the ESOP loan and the company's guarantee of that loan.
ESOP valuations: does Farnum still live?
Owners must realize that with the plethora of space available it is critical to act before tenants can find another deal or find fault with yours.
Small tenants carry weight in NY office market
Some acid rain analysts find fault with the integrated assessment.
Mapping the benefits of acid-rain controls
Summary: New Delhi [India], Jan 17 (ANI): Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday condemned the Opposition's criticism of the Centre's move to end the Haj subsidy, saying that it's their habit to find fault in every decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
Not opposing Centre gives some people stomach ache: Naqvi
There are those who find fault because of convictions.
Faultfinders
Had earlier got off the mark in a race that has worked out well and difficult to find fault with this unbeaten filly.
BANKERS OR BLOWOUTS?
Some fans seemingly can find fault even when the team is doing well.
YOUNGSTERS ALMOST LEFT