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.
Weight-loss jabs have been available on the NHS in England since the end of June, but they are not available over-the-counter and patients must meet strict criteria in order to be eligible for a prescription.
From BBC
Fallingwater, the world-famous house over a waterfall at Bear Run in the Pennsylvania woods, completed in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann, meets all of the criteria.
Until now, astronomers had not identified a single confirmed target that met all the strict criteria for this test.
From Science Daily
The Journal applied the same criteria to count patients taking higher numbers of drugs.
It was with all that criteria in mind that Musselman and his staff settled on Santa Cruz.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
