critique
Americannoun
-
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.
-
the art or practice of criticism.
verb (used with object)
noun
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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:
To critique any tool, though, you have to be well versed in it, says Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Earlier this week, Joyce Carol Oates panned Wilson’s critique of Christopher Nolan’s big-screen adaptation, and now acclaimed author and journalist Susan Orlean has entered the chat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Whatever one thinks of that critique, the principle has always rested on one consistent idea: Don’t change the rules of the game as the clock is running down.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
Wilson -- behind an acclaimed translation which Nolan has praised -- generated headlines this week after penning a scathing critique of his screenplay.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
“It’s impossible to critique CJ’s work because it’s always mangled, glued together like this. I mean, we’re talking serious Humpty Dumpty every time.”
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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
Quantum stocks face plenty of their own hype-and-speculation critiques, but Washington’s backing was providing the perfect shelter from the market’s storm.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
“There’s not an easy fix for getting the public on board with data centers because their critiques are grounded in reality,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
If the stock falls or trades flat, there will likely be critiques that SpaceX and its advisers overestimated demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
They had complaints and critiques they couldn’t keep to themselves.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
They were materials that he read, and he critiqued.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 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
Habermas critiqued what he saw as the commodification of mass media and entertainment, arguing that a mass-produced culture destroys critical public debate.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
Ben Stiller was among the entertainers who critiqued the assessment, responding with, “In what universe does a 60 million opening for an original Hollywood movie warrant this headline?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 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
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
Another video posted this week included Burger King employees reading off messages critiquing the chain’s app, employees and even Curtis’s haircut.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
So it’s not because you’re critiquing oligarchs and billionaires.
From Slate ● Mar. 4, 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.
