'hypercriticism' originates from Greek elements: the prefix 'hyper-' (from Greek 'huper') meaning 'over, beyond', combined with 'criticism' which ultimately derives from Greek 'kritikos' (via Latin 'criticus' and French 'critique'), where 'kritikos' meant 'able to judge'.

'critic' and 'criticism' changed from Greek 'kritikos' to Latin 'criticus', then to Old French 'critique'/'criticism', and entered Middle English as 'criticism'; the modern compound 'hypercriticism' was formed by adding the productive prefix 'hyper-' in Modern English.

Initially, roots related to 'kritikos' referred to judgment or the ability to discern; over time the compound 'hypercriticism' came to mean excessive or unduly harsh fault-finding rather than neutral judgment.