critic

American  

[krit-ik] / ˈkrɪt ɪk /

noun

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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• supercritic noun

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

Example Sentences

She won a lot of critics’ prizes leading up to the nominations.

From Los Angeles Times

Other critics have warned that widespread prediction-market contracts tied to war could create harmful incentives, especially if insiders charged with carrying out military actions are tempted to enrich themselves through side bets.

From The Wall Street Journal

Dozens, possibly hundreds, of opposition leaders and critics remain in exile or under arrest.

From Barron's

Still unclear is whether real estate developer Rick Caruso — another outspoken critic of Bass on the fire — will launch a second mayoral bid.

From Los Angeles Times

However, the second entry wasn’t particularly well-received by critics and its worldwide box office fell well short of its predecessor.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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