critique
Americannoun
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critiques
plural
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an article or essay criticizing a literary or other work; detailed evaluation; review.
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a criticism or critical comment on some problem, subject, etc.
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the art or practice of criticism.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a critical essay or commentary, esp on artistic work
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the act or art of criticizing
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of critique
First recorded in 1695–1705; from French, from Greek kritikḗ “the art of criticism,” noun use of feminine of kritikós “critical, skilled in judging”; replacing critic
Explanation
As a verb, critique means to review or examine something critically. As a noun, a critique is that review or examination, like an art essay or a book report. The French version of this word is spelled the same (meaning "the art of criticism") and came from the Greek kritike tekhne ("the critical art"). This shouldn't come as a great surprise, since it was the Greeks who gave us such masters of the critique as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Today, through book reports, argument papers, and critical essays, we carry on the tradition of the critique, which is one of the most important skills we'll ever learn in school.
Vocabulary lists containing critique
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 3
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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.
See Examples For:
Druckenmiller’s critique was unambiguous: ”This wasn’t liquidity management, it was price management – and a mistake far larger than $4 billion suggests.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
The video, set to pulsing music, delivering a scathing critique of the system that he once tried to reform.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The label’s growing popularity presents a certain irony for a project founded partly as a critique of fashion’s excesses: Matières Fécales is now luxury fashion itself.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
The billionaire President offers an odd critique of companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Could be you’re not giving it a chance. It’s a critique, you know?”
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
The pandemic response was far from perfect, and there are tons of legitimate critiques.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
Even if you did not like the political observations of some of those magazines, essays, critiques, poetry or whatever was in ther, these are feelings from the people, and they’re protected under the First Amendment.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
Whether those critiques result major revisions remains to be seen.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
He already branded popular critiques of the Dodgers as “lazy” once this season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
Activist critiques like those from Denny and Deloria have had relatively little impact on mainstream archaeologists and anthropologists.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
“She was just hounded and just critiqued with terrible jokes,” Perry said, but she didn’t back down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Meanwhile, Alito angrily lashed out when Jackson critiqued these shadow-docket decisions, like the one earlier this month in which the court exempted its typical procedural rule to make sure Callais went into effect immediately.
From Slate ● May 19, 2026
That they’re examined, scrutinized, critiqued and celebrated with such richness and depth is a true treat that few legacy sequels ever provide.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
Myers adds that these newer investments allow China to fly "under the radar at moments when its engagement is being critiqued more seriously".
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
The idea is that a student turns in a story, which is then read and thoughtfully critiqued by everyone in the class.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Roberts’ opinion for the court, despite being well-written and legally correct, resists critiquing the original order with the forcefulness this issue deserves.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
This may be an argument for all of us to be more charitable when critiquing New York Times coverage of advances in the software industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Born in Shanghai, the 40-year-old cartoonist has lived in Australia since 2009 and earned a reputation for artworks critiquing Beijing and Xi.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026
Securities filings show shareholder letters critiquing the termination fee from Zazove Associates and from Alejandro Malbran’s investment firm, Brancous, which owns about 1% of Braemar stock.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
Unfortunately, my mother looked comfortable there on the sofa, as if she was settling in for a long evening of critiquing.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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.
