critical
Americanadjective
-
inclined to find fault or to judge with severity, often too readily.
Parents who are too critical make their children anxious.
- Synonyms:
- carping, censorious, captious, faultfinding
-
involving criticism, or skillful judgment as to truth, merit, etc..
The article provides a critical analysis of the Gulf War.
- Synonyms:
- precise, exact, judicious, discriminating
-
occupied with or skilled in criticism.
She was one of the great critical journalists of the 20th century.
-
of or relating to critics or criticism, especially of literature, film, music, etc..
Critical appreciation of this author’s work has peaked in recent years.
-
providing textual variants, proposed emendations, etc..
The library has a new critical edition of Chaucer.
-
of the nature of a crisis; threatening a seriously bad outcome; grave.
There was a critical shortage of food.
-
of decisive importance with respect to the outcome; crucial.
The nation is facing a critical moment in its history.
-
Cocoa butter is a critical ingredient in chocolate.
-
Medicine/Medical. having unstable and abnormal vital signs and other unfavorable indicators, as loss of appetite, poor mobility, or unconsciousness.
The patient has been upgraded from critical to stable.
-
Physics.
-
pertaining to a state, value, or quantity at which one or more properties of a substance or system undergo a change.
The critical temperature of benzene is 289° C.
-
(of fissionable material) having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction.
They told us about a lab where some plutonium went critical.
-
adjective
-
containing or making severe or negative judgments
-
containing careful or analytical evaluations
a critical dissertation
-
of or involving a critic or criticism
-
of or forming a crisis; crucial; decisive
a critical operation
-
urgently needed
critical medical supplies
-
informal so seriously injured or ill as to be in danger of dying
-
physics of, denoting, or concerned with a state in which the properties of a system undergo an abrupt change
a critical temperature
-
(of a nuclear power station or reactor) to reach a state in which a nuclear-fission chain reaction becomes self-sustaining
Other Word Forms
- anticritical adjective
- criticality noun
- critically adverb
- criticalness noun
- noncritical adjective
- pseudocritical adjective
Etymology
Origin of critical
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The proposal also urges restoring “normal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz and safeguarding civilian sites and critical infrastructure, including energy, desalination and power facilities, as well as peaceful nuclear infrastructure.
That preparation will be critical against Texas, Close said.
From Los Angeles Times
After he joined the 2022 protests, he says, she became critical of his activities and unsympathetic over the deaths of friends of his in the January protests.
From BBC
The S&P 500 fell 5.1% this month as Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for the global trade in energy, fertilizers and other critical commodities.
From MarketWatch
It seems officiating is perpetually in the spotlight and the focus of critical debate.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
