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.
"There are things that, when we study them, with our present-day criteria, our values, obviously cannot make us feel proud," he had said while visiting an exhibition on indigenous Mexican women in Madrid.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
This story I did about a historic home in Cambridge, Mass., ticked off several of those criteria.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
However, states can prosecute federal agents under their own laws if their actions do not meet those criteria.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
Goldman’s definition of secular growth stocks are those S&P 500 firms, excluding financials, real estate, and utilities, that meet its “Rule of 10” sales growth criteria.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026
Age has 2 criteria: If the dog is between 3 and 7 years old, I add 3 days.
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
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.
