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.
Becerra said he reviewed the formula and has “never seen” debate criteria like it before during his decades of serving in elected office.
From Los Angeles Times
"There are things that, when we study them, with our present-day criteria, our values, obviously cannot make us feel proud," Felipe said while visiting an exhibition on indigenous Mexican women in Madrid's National Archaeological Museum.
From BBC
For much of the past century, investors have largely defined value stocks based on one critical criteria: price-to-book ratio.
From MarketWatch
The businesses say only when “the material satisfies rigid and arbitrary regulatory criteria set by the state” are they able to inform consumers their packaging is recyclable.
From Los Angeles Times
"There are things that, when we study them, with our present-day criteria, our values, obviously cannot make us feel proud," he added on Monday.
From BBC
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.
