C2idiomcommunicationIELTS-friendly
damn with faint praise
USUK
to praise something so weakly that it sounds like criticism
Usually 'damn someone/something with faint praise'. Often passive: 'The plan was damned with faint praise.'
In context
Calling her essay "neat and on time" is damning it with faint praise.
The review damned the film with faint praise, calling it "perfectly watchable".
More idioms about communication
- a bone of contentiona subject that people keep arguing about
- a broken recordsomeone who keeps repeating the same thing in an annoying way
- a heart-to-heartan honest, private conversation about personal feelings
- a moot pointUK: a question still open to argument. US: a question that no longer matters in practice.
- a red herringa fact or idea that takes attention away from the real issue