critic

American  

[krit-ik] / ˈkrɪt ɪk /

noun

• critics
  plural

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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercritic
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• critics
  plural

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

Explanation

A critic is someone who finds fault with something and expresses an unfavorable opinion. You might be a critic of your school’s new plan to start the school day at 6:30 a.m. The word critic came into English by way of Latin, tracing back to the Greek word krinein, meaning “judge, decide.” If you’re a critic, you’re essentially judging something — and finding it lacking. Critic can be used broadly to describe any person expressing an unfavorable view, but there are professional critics as well, such as people who review movies or music. In that sense, the word describes someone who thoughtfully assesses something, either favorably or negatively.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

critic critics

A critic of a proposed solar panel site in Guernsey says he is now a "complete supporter of the plan" after going through the details with the applicant.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

“This is so cowardly & pathetic,” posted Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump press secretary turned critic.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Republican Senator Thom Tillis, an occasional critic of the administration, also condemned the decision.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Our critic praised the “sweeping, chronological survey” as a “lavish consecration” of the man and his art.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

In literary criticism the critic has no choice but to make over the victim of his attention into something the size and shape of himself.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

She says the couple went from royal insiders, giving a glimpse into a secret world, to royal critics, then from media producers to, in Meghan's case, a lifestyle influencer.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, one of Trump's most prominent critics during the trade war, has so far stayed quiet.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

However, the SSA currently does not provide the same detailed, real-time metrics as it did in the past, instead providing only snapshots of its performance, which makes it difficult to verify the improvements, critics said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Shortly after, parents and employees were no longer able to find copies of some of these books on the public-facing, book-search system, these critics told The Times in early 2024.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

One might be forgiven for thinking that it is Temple and Swift, the critics of modern science, who live in a disenchanted world, not Wotton, its advocate.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

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