Withering

/ˈwɪðərɪŋ/ adjective medium

So harshly critical or scornful that it seems to shrivel its target's confidence.

The critic's withering review left the young director too discouraged to read the rest of it.

Memory Trick

Just as a plant withers and shrinks without water, a withering remark makes its target shrink under the harshness of it.