3 meanings
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1 —as in:
a critical problem
Definition
important, serious, or dangerous- It is of critical importance.
critical = highly important
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- The doctor said her condition is critical.
- Ants play a critical role in the ecosystem.
- She plays a critical role in the administration.
- It was a critical factor in my decision.
- The legislation funds critical infrastructure.
- He was in critical condition.S.E. Hinton -- The Outsiders
- At any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle Snowball had turned to flee.George Orwell -- Animal Farm
- PROCTOR—he knows this is critical, and is striving against his disgust with Hale and with himself for even answering:Arthur Miller -- The Crucible
- Later the doctors would speculate that when Dad, Luke and Benjamin had wrestled Shawn to the ground—and he'd sustained a concussion—he was already in critical condition.Tara Westover -- Educated
critical = serious or dangerous
critical = very important
critical = important
critical = important
critical = important
critical = serious or dangerous
critical = important
critical = important
critical = serious or dangerous
2 —as in:
don't be so critical
Definition
finding fault and telling others; or tending to have unfavorable opinions- She is critical of everything he does.
critical = tends to find fault
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- She was imprisoned after writing an article that was critical of the dictator.
- She is very critical of the administration.
- The comment prompted a twiterstorm of criticism.
- ...even Jem was not highly critical unless you said something stupid.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Montag, old men who stay at home, afraid, tending their peanut-brittle bones, have no right to criticize.Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451
- Mom said that anyone critical of her driving could help with the task.Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
- "It's easy to criticize," I says, "but you ain't got the same problems as what I got."George Orwell -- 1984
- "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."F. Scott Fitzgerald -- The Great Gatsby
- The most strident criticism came in the form of a dense, multipage epistle from Ambler, a tiny Inupiat village on the Kobuk River north of the Arctic Circle.Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
critical = expressed unfavorable opinion
critical = tends to find fault
criticism = description of faults
critical = expressing unfavorable opinions
criticize = give opinions of what is wrong with something
critical = expressing unfavorable opinions
criticize = give opinions of what is wrong with something
criticizing = giving an opinion of what is wrong with something
criticism = act of finding fault and telling others
3 —as in:
critical acclaim
Definition
relating to thoughtful judgement of what is good and bad about something — possibly from people whose job is to share their expert opinions in a given industry- The film is receiving critical acclaim.
critical = "Critical acclaim" is a common expression meaning praise from people whose job is to share expert judgement.
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- She is a restaurant critic who appears regularly on television.
- The film received critical and commercial success.
- Attentive critics of courthouse business, Atticus said they knew as much law as the Chief Justice, from long years of observation.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- No wonder books stopped selling, the critics said.Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451
- He looked critically at Ralph's golden body and then down at his own clothes.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- Some critics have even drawn parallels between McCandless and the Arctic's most infamous tragic figure, Sir John Franklin, a nineteenth-century British naval officer whose smugness and hauteur contributed to some 140 deaths, including his own.Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
- Ralph looked at the sun critically.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- Holding his breath he cocked a critical ear at the sounds of the island.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- Ralph looked at him critically through his tangle of fair hair.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
critic = someone whose job is to share expert opinion of things in given industry
critical = relating to expert judgement
critics = people who share expert judgement
critics = people whose job is to share expert judgement
critically = in a manner that thoughtfully judges what is good and bad about something
critics = people who share expert judgement
critically = in a manner that thoughtfully judges what is good and bad about something
critical = relating to judgement of what is important
critically = in a manner that thoughtfully judges what is good and bad about something
Less commonly:
See a comprehensive dictionary for more specialized senses of critical including those in mathematics and nuclear energy.