critique
Americannoun
-
an article or essay criticizing a literary or other work; detailed evaluation; review.
-
a criticism or critical comment on some problem, subject, etc.
-
the art or practice of criticism.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a critical essay or commentary, esp on artistic work
-
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:
That disagreement became the occasion for a much broader critique.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
It’s a romance, a swashbuckler, a melodrama, a relatively light-handed critique of capitalism, demagoguery and the malleability of the crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
"Like those fans who critique absolutely everything, I want to make sure I'm bringing to life a plot that makes sense and characters that people can believe in."
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
“An unfortunate consequence” of the “Wedges” paper, wrote climate scientist Ken Caldeira, New York University physics professor Marty Hoffert and others in a 2013 critique, “was to make the solution seem easy.”
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Start from the beginning.” she said, and the piano-playing critique resumed.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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
He began posting critiques of viral L.A. dishes after a work injury and never expected them to take off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Whether those critiques result major revisions remains to be seen.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Many critiques of the show - accusations of style over substance, glamorising trauma and prioritising spectacle - were there from the very beginning.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
During class critiques the teacher would lift my latest project from the table and I'd watch her arm muscles strain and tighten against the weight.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Few works of American literature are as extensively analyzed and critiqued for their impact, for good or ill, on our cultural mythmaking.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 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
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 model was critiqued by the judging panel for not exhibiting much emotion in her photos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
While they tried things on I merely watched and critiqued, not in the mood to shop for myself, though I did need new shoes.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
In January, Chun wrote and published an essay on his public Substack newsletter critiquing some of the public's responses to the Bondi shooting.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 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
So it’s not because you’re critiquing oligarchs and billionaires.
From Slate ● Mar. 4, 2026
The 61-year-old now spends 20 to 30 hours a week critiquing AI’s attempts at writing news articles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
“I was critiquing Travis’s first story,” Lydia said.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
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.
