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critical

[krit-i-kuhl]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR critical ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

inclined to find fault or to judge with severity, often too readily.

occupied with or skilled in criticism.

involving skillful judgment as to truth, merit, etc.; judicial: a critical analysis.

of or relating to critics or criticism: critical essays.

providing textual variants, proposed emendations, etc.: a critical edition of Chaucer.

pertaining to or of the nature of a crisis: a critical shortage of food.

of decisive importance with respect to the outcome; crucial: a critical moment.

of essential importance; indispensable: a critical ingredient.

Medicine/Medical. (of a patient's condition) having unstable and abnormal vital signs and other unfavorable indicators, as loss of appetite, poor mobility, or unconsciousness.

Physics.

pertaining to a state, value, or quantity at which one or more properties of a substance or system undergo a change.
(of fissionable material) having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction.

Origin of critical

First recorded in 1580–90; critic + -al¹

Related formscrit·i·cal·ly, adverbcrit·i·cal·i·ty, crit·i·cal·ness, nounan·ti·crit·i·cal, adjectivean·ti·crit·i·cal·ly, adverban·ti·crit·i·cal·ness, nounhalf-crit·i·cal, adjectivehalf-crit·i·cal·ly, adverbhalf-crit·i·cal·ness, nounnon·crit·i·cal, adjectivenon·crit·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·crit·i·cal·ness, nounpost·crit·i·cal, adjectivepseu·do·crit·i·cal, adjectivepseu·do·crit·i·cal·ly, adverbqua·si-crit·i·cal, adjectivequa·si-crit·i·cal·ly, adverb

Synonyms for critical

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR critical ON THESAURUS.COM

1. captious, censorious, carping, faultfinding, caviling. 3. discriminating, exact, precise.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for criticality

seriousness, pressure, necessity, desperation, stress, exigency, imminence, incitement, insistence, need, instancy, importunity

Examples from the Web for criticality

Historical Examples of criticality

Jack could have spitted anybody for coming to disturb him at such a criticality.
The Ned M'Keown Stories
William Carleton

British Dictionary definitions for criticality

criticality

noun

the state of being critical

physics the condition in a nuclear reactor when the fissionable material can sustain a chain reaction by itself

critical

adjective

containing or making severe or negative judgments

containing careful or analytical evaluationsa critical dissertation

of or involving a critic or criticism

of or forming a crisis; crucial; decisivea critical operation

urgently neededcritical 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 changea critical temperature

go critical (of a nuclear power station or reactor) to reach a state in which a nuclear-fission chain reaction becomes self-sustaining

Derived Formscritically, adverbcriticalness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for criticality

critical

adj.

1580s, "censorious," from critic + -al (1). Meaning "pertaining to criticism" is from 1741; medical sense is from c.1600; meaning "of the nature of a crisis" is from 1640s; that of "crucial" is from 1841, from the "decisive" sense in Latin criticus. Related: Criticality (1756; in the nuclear sense, 1950); critically (1650s, "accurately;" 1815, "in a critical situation"). In nuclear science, critical mass is attested from 1940.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

criticality in Medicine

critical

[krĭt′ĭ-kəl]

adj.

Of or relating to a medical crisis.

Being or relating to a grave physical condition especially of a patient.

Of or relating to the value of a measurement, such as temperature, at which an abrupt change in a chemical of physical quality, property, or state occurs.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.