criteria
Americannoun
Usage
What does criteria mean? Criteria is the plural of criterion—a standard or principle for judging, evaluating, or selecting something. Criteria are the ideals or requirements on which a judgment, evaluation, or selection is based. The plural of criterion can also be criterions, but this is rarely used. Criteria are often the particular requirements that someone or something must meet in order to be considered or qualify for something. An applicant for a job may be evaluated based on several criteria, including their education, experience, and references—each one of these standards is a criterion. Your grade in a class may be based on certain criteria, such as your test scores, your grades on homework and other assignments, and your participation in class. Similarly, a gymnast’s score is based on several criteria involving how well they performed certain moves. The word criteria is often used with the word meet, as in Your entry meets all of our criteria for inclusion in the exhibit. Sometimes, people try to use criteria as a singular noun (like how data is sometimes used), but this is generally considered not the right way to use it. Example: We assess the candidates based on several criteria, and one criterion is that they must have at least five years of experience in a similar position.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was the development of a rigorous discipline for evaluating criteria of credibility.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
A five-member board is expected to decide who receives compensation and how much they are paid, but the Justice Department has not announced the commissioners or detailed the criteria they would use.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
While there are no hard and fast criteria, the market’s behavior over the past two months certainly fits the bill, according to Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro.
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
Using World Cancer Research Fund evidence grading criteria, the researchers concluded that the evidence points to a probable causal relationship between higher intake of legumes and soy foods and a lower risk of hypertension.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
We have three criteria for judging a cow.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
