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

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

There had been some talk that Sir James Cleverly could take up the mantle of a critic within the ranks, but he's kept a low and loyal profile since returning to the shadow cabinet.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

Read a selection of work by the Pulitzer-winning critic, who died this week at age 77.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

He, like Karasira, was a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and critic of the ruling RPF party.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

On Saturday, the country's largest daily newspaper La Nacion, a critic of the Chaves administration, said the United States had revoked the visas of several of its executives.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

A critic, Ignatius Pardies, called Newton’s paper ‘a most ingenious hypothesis’, ‘an extraordinary hypothesis’ which, if true, would overturn the foundations of optics.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

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