critic
[krit-ik]
- a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes: a poor critic of men.
- a person who judges, evaluates, or analyzes literary or artistic works, dramatic or musical performances, or the like, especially for a newspaper or magazine.
- a person who tends too readily to make captious, trivial, or harsh judgments; faultfinder.
- Archaic.
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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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for critic on Thesaurus.com2. reviewer, judge. 3. censurer, carper.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for critic
Contemporary Examples
“Every critic encounters one book like that,” was his reply.
But back in the 1990s, that usually took the form of fighting corporate welfare, of which he was an early GOP critic.
Literary pedigree is or should be a valid concern for any writer or for any critic considering that writer.
Compliments Are Nice, but Enough With the Cormac McCarthy ComparisonsWilliam Giraldi
October 21, 2014
This was the Coltrane “sheets of sound” period (a phrase originated by critic Ira Gitler).
“She follows the war and makes it very much into her business,” noted the critic Harold Bloom.
Historical Examples
According to her own account, her first critic was her father.
De Libris: Prose and VerseAustin Dobson
He was a very severe, and often unfair, critic of his predecessors.
Apu OllantayAnonymous
"Then give me mine," cries the critic, stretching out his palm.
Main StreetNathaniel Hawthorne
He was perhaps then, as he was ever, too severe a critic of his own works.
The Slave Of The LampHenry Seton Merriman
He was a good reader and critic, and his judgment on poetry was to the ground of it.
critic
- a person who judges something
- a professional judge of art, music, literature, etc
- a person who often finds fault and criticizes
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin criticus, from Greek kritikos capable of judging, from kritēs judge; see criterion
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for critic
n.
1580s, "one who passes judgment," from Middle French critique (14c.), from Latin criticus "a judge, literary critic," from Greek kritikos "able to make judgments," from krinein "to separate, decide" (see crisis). Meaning "one who judges merits of books, plays, etc." is from c.1600. The English word always had overtones of "censurer, faultfinder."
To understand how the artist felt, however, is not criticism; criticism is an investigation of what the work is good for. ... Criticism ... is a serious and public function; it shows the race assimilating the individual, dividing the immortal from the mortal part of a soul. [George Santayana, "The Life of Reason," 1906]
A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that its author writ;
[Pope, "An Essay on Criticism," 1709]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper