critic

American  

[krit-ik] / ˈkrɪt ɪk /

noun

• critics
  plural

1. a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes.

   a poor critic of men.

2. a person who judges, evaluates, or analyzes literary or artistic works, dramatic or musical performances, or the like, especially for a newspaper or magazine.

   Synonyms:

   judge, reviewer

3. a person who tends too readily to make captious, trivial, or harsh judgments; faultfinder.

   Synonyms:

   carper, censurer

4. Archaic.

   1. criticism.

   2. critique.

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critic British  

/ ˈkrɪtɪk /

noun

1. a person who judges something

2. a professional judge of art, music, literature, etc

3. a person who often finds fault and criticizes

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercritic
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• critics
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of critic

1575–85; < Latin criticus < Greek kritikós skilled in judging (adj.), critic (noun), equivalent to krī́t ( ēs ) judge, umpire ( krī́ ( nein ) to separate, decide + -tēs agent suffix) + -ikos -ic

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Explanation

A critic is someone who finds fault with something and expresses an unfavorable opinion. You might be a critic of your school’s new plan to start the school day at 6:30 a.m. The word critic came into English by way of Latin, tracing back to the Greek word krinein, meaning “judge, decide.” If you’re a critic, you’re essentially judging something — and finding it lacking. Critic can be used broadly to describe any person expressing an unfavorable view, but there are professional critics as well, such as people who review movies or music. In that sense, the word describes someone who thoughtfully assesses something, either favorably or negatively.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

critic critics

A well-known Nigerian art critic told us her name had been attached to online reviews praising the work of the two seemingly obscure artists.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2026

Some European capitals believe Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, is too strong a critic of Russia and President Vladimir Putin to be an envoy for Europe during the negotiations.

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026

But Cash insists it was a "tongue-in-cheek joke" because he knew his friend to be "a staunch critic of the Chinese Communist Party".

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026

Jordan, a former champion wrestler who has represented Ohio in Congress since 2007, built his reputation as a political brawler and fierce critic of the Republican establishment.

From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2026

A good critic can find things whether they’re there or not.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

And CVS is keeping the businesses that critics find most troubling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026

They cite Lutnick’s close ties to the outgoing Nvidia CEO and his efforts to stall chip-export restrictions, which critics say gave Alice Huang’s company an opening.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026

A major revision under way of a colonial-era mining law promises to boost protection from damage caused by open-cast mining like this, but critics have their doubts.

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026

Even McDonnell’s critics acknowledge the difficulty of replacing him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026

To its critics, the World Health Organization was an entangled, muddled bureaucracy that had two mottoes: “Slow down” and “It’s not our fault.”

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

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Related Words

• authority
• cartoonist
• commentator
• expert
• judge
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• reviewer

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