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.

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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

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

Slate music critic Carl Wilson raves that Crisco is a “nostalgic pleasure cruise through pop-country styles of the past.”

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

Our critic called Cristian Mungiu’s drama, which won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, “a spellbinding, infuriating tale.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

The US authorities did not name the Kremlin critic, only identifying him as "Victim-1".

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

In 2022, when restaurant critic Bill Addison inducted Langer’s into the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

Russo was the more outspoken war critic, and it had gotten him fired.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Both advocates and critics agree that the runway work likely means more uber-wealthy visitors will have the ability to land their planes at Aspen/Pitkin County Airport.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The Warner Bros. film was expected to do poorly after polarizing reviews from critics and a challenging marketing campaign.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

After being dismissed by Putin, Kasyanov joined the opposition and became one of the Kremlin's most vocal critics.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

With the arrival of the Strokes’ 2001 debut album, critics predicted the band would return the best in rock history to the top of pop culture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Some critics have even drawn parallels between McCandless and the Arctic’s most infamous tragic figure, Sir John Franklin, a nineteenth-century British naval officer whose smugness and hauteur contributed to some 140 deaths, including his own.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

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