All 4 Uses of
critical
in
The House of the Seven Gables
- So faithfully had this contract been fulfilled, that now, as the carpenter approached the house, his practised eye could detect nothing to criticise in its condition.†
Chpt 13 *criticise = give an opinion of what is wrong with somethingunconventional spelling: This is a British spelling. Americans spell this criticize.
- Not to speak of other objections, it exposes the romance to an inflexible and exceedingly dangerous species of criticism, by bringing his fancy-pictures almost into positive contact with the realities of the moment.†
Chpt Pref.
- Unfortunately (without design, or only with such instinctive design as gives no account of itself to the intellect) Phoebe, just at the critical moment, drew back; so that her highly respectable kinsman, with his body bent over the counter and his lips protruded, was betrayed into the rather absurd predicament of kissing the empty air.†
Chpt 8
- In fact, entirely as she loved him, Hepzibah could hardly have borne any longer the wretched duty—so impracticable by her few and rigid faculties—of seeking pastime for a still sensitive, but ruined mind, critical and fastidious, without force or volition.†
Chpt 15 *
Definitions:
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(1)
(critical as in: a critical problem) important, serious, or dangerous
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(2)
(critical as in: don't be so critical) finding fault and telling others; or tending to have unfavorable opinions
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(3)
(critical as in: critical acclaim) relating to careful analysis or 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
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(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
See a comprehensive dictionary for more specialized senses of critical including those in mathematics and nuclear energy.