微词 (wēicí): veiled criticism

Meanings

1 veiled criticism
2 discreet complaint
3 subtle censure

Characters

微

Examples

员工对新政策颇有微词。

Yuángōng duì xīn zhèngcè pō yǒu wēicí.

Employees have quite a few veiled criticisms of the new policy.

她对丈夫的做法多有微词。

Tā duì zhàngfū de zuòfǎ duō yǒu wēicí.

She has many a veiled complaint about her husband's behavior.

Tips

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Almost always appears as 颇有微词 (pō yǒu wēicí) or 多有微词 — 'has quite some veiled criticism'. Formal/literary; you'd see it in newspapers, not casual speech. The 微 (subtle, slight) signals indirectness — these are grumblings, not open denunciations.