"subtle criticism" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a type of criticism that is not obvious or expressed in a harsh or direct manner. For example, "His subtle criticism of her work was meant to be constructive rather than condemning."
Critical undertones, such as subtle criticism of the everyday ward routine or competition with the nursing staff, were found only in individual cases.
Kiarostami's subtle criticism of the male-dominated society is reflected by the boy.
And his openly pining for Sloan's system could be viewed as subtle criticism of Coach Avery Johnson's offense.
Anke Engelke, a German comedian charged with delivering the voting results via video link in Hamburg, took the time to make a subtle criticism of Azerbaijan's democratic credentials.
The Giménez version, says the petition, "reveals a subtle criticism of the church's creationist theories while questioning a resurgence of new idols".
Or was the dancer, as the Paris Opera program suggests, offering "subtle criticism of power and its hold over the individual"?
The contrast between the two works in aesthetics is interesting, because while some arguments in Kant's work can be construed as subtle criticisms of some of Herz's positions, Herz finished even the second edition of his book without any knowledge of Kant's criticisms.
Church on Amsterdam Avenue that the next mayor must recognize this reality and, in a not-so-subtle criticism of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, do a better job in unifying the city's disparate groups.
"Campaign in poetry, govern in prose": The former secretary of state waxed philosophical about the difference between running a campaign and running a country - a not-so-subtle criticism of Sanders, whose appeal she sees as built more on a foundation of idealism than pragmatism.
A subtler criticism is that green growth is merely good economic housekeeping, with a lot of fuss about environmental costs that should be factored in anyway.
A subtler criticism holds that there is something more fundamentally wrong with the Gladwellian project, and indeed with the many Gladwellesque tomes it's inspired.
