All 7 Uses of
critical
in
A Thousand Acres
- Jess smiled, also realizing that Ty was offended, and said, "I'm not meaning to criticize.†
p. 110.5criticize = give an opinion of what is wrong with somethingstandard suffix: The suffix "-ize" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.
- He wasn't criticizing you.†
p. 111.1 *criticizing = giving an opinion of what is wrong with somethingstandard suffix: The suffix "-ize" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.
- You don't have to feel criticized.†
p. 111.2criticized = gave an opinion of what was wrong with somethingstandard suffix: The suffix "-ize" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.
- It wasn't up to me to judge him, or criticize his ways.†
p. 175.4criticize = give an opinion of what is wrong with somethingstandard suffix: The suffix "-ize" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.
- Yes and no. He doesn't feel critical, and he wants to be our friend, but he wouldn't do things our way, and he probably wouldn't have us do things our way, truth to tell.†
p. 111.2 *
- I was less automatically critical—yes, they all had misbehaved, and failed, too, but now I saw that you could also say that they had suffered setbacks, suffered them, and suffered, period.†
p. 113.5
- It felt like a fury, but it also felt like a panic, as if her criticisms were simultaneously unjust and just, and the sequence of events that I remembered perfectly was only a theory, a case made in my own defense that a jury might or might not believe.†
p. 118.9
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.