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

Reviews of the new release are mixed, with some critics praising its imagination and pace, but others are saying it falls flat compared to the first film.

From BBC

Domestic and international criticism has been mounting against the sole custody system in Japan, which critics say led many divorcees to become estranged from their children after losing custody of them.

From BBC

That has resulted in the shorter sessions critics have argued show the players are not being worked hard enough.

From BBC

But even among the government's critics, there are deep differences over this war and its impact.

From BBC

The idea behind implementing the caps on parent and graduate loans was to eliminate what critics had said was essentially an unlimited source of funds for schools that gave them room to raise tuition.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

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