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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercritic
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• critics
  plural

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

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

Rock critic Robert Christgau called the album “a profit-taking throwaway,” but John Morthland in Creem magazine wrote, “This material does have its attractions.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

A recent interview with veteran critic Eric Deggans in Emmy magazine answered that question definitively.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

Squabbles began almost immediately: One critic in 1873 accused Berkeley of “teaching rich lawyers’ boys Greek with the farmers’ money.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

"Believe me, this is a nailed-on Booker winner," critic Giles Coren wrote in the Times, external this weekend.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

One enterprising rock critic has tried to solve the problem simply by calling his music a cross between the British new wave music of the 1980s and hip-hop.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

All presidents wrangle with their critics in and out of the press.

From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026

Times Gold Award will take place at 8 p.m. during the celebration and tasting of the 101 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles, chosen by restaurant critics Bill Addison and Jenn Harris.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

For iced-coffee critics, the problem is what the beverage signals: casualness, poor preparation and bad time management.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

But critics argue the bare nails trend actually says something about class, the hamster wheel of beauty standards, and who gets to define what is considered tasteful.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

He left office in March of 1797 with the resounding cheers of his huge army of supporters and the howls of that much smaller pack of critics echoing in his ears.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

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