critical

critical
critical [krit′i kəl]
adj.
1. tending to find fault; censorious
2. characterized by careful analysis and judgment [a sound critical estimate of the problem]
3. of critics or criticism
4. of or forming a crisis or turning point; decisive
5. dangerous or risky; causing anxiety [a critical situation in international relations]
6. of the crisis of a disease
7. designating or of important products or raw materials subject to increased production and restricted distribution under strict control, as in wartime
8.
a) designating or of a point at which a change in character, property, or condition is effected
b) designating or of the point at which a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining
SYN.- ACUTE
critically
adv.
criticality [krit′ikal′ə tē]
n.
criticalness
SYN.- CRITICAL, in its strictest use, implies an attempt at objective judging so as to determine both merits and faults [a critical review ], but it often (and HYPERCRITICAL, always) connotes emphasis on the faults or shortcomings; FAULTFINDING implies a habitual or unreasonable emphasis on faults or defects; CAPTIOUS suggests a characteristic tendency to find fault with, or argue about, even the pettiest details [a captious critic ]; CAVILING stresses the raising of quibbling objections on the most trivial points [a caviling grammarian ]; CARPING suggests peevishness, perversity, or censoriousness in seeking out faults

English World dictionary. . 2014.

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  • Critical — Crit ic*al (kr[i^]t [i^]*kal), a. [See {Critic}, n., {Crisis}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic productions. [1913 Webster] It is submitted to the judgment of more critical ears to direct and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • critical — UK US /ˈkrɪtɪkəl/ adjective ► extremely important to the progress or success of something: critical to/for sth »Logistics and distribution are critical to an e commerce venture s success. »Critical decisions need to be taken. »We see this as a… …   Financial and business terms

  • critical — 1 Critical, hypercritical, faultfinding, captious, caviling, carping, censorious are comparable when they mean exhibiting the spirit of one who detects and points out faults or defects. Critical, when applied to persons who judge and to their… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • critical — 1580s, censorious, from CRITIC (Cf. critic) + AL (Cf. al) (1). Meaning pertaining to criticism is from 1741; medical sense is from c.1600; meaning of the nature of a crisis is from 1640s; that of crucial is from 1841, from the decisive sense in L …   Etymology dictionary

  • critical — I (crucial) adjective acute, anceps, chief, climacteric, climactic, commanding, considerable, deciding, decisive, determining, dubius, essential, eventful, exigent, far reaching, fateful, foremost, grave, imperative, important, imposing, key,… …   Law dictionary

  • critical — [adj1] fault finding, detracting analytical, belittling, biting, calumniatory, captious, carping, caviling, cavillous, censorious, censuring, choleric, condemning, critic, cutting, cynical, demanding, demeaning, derogatory, diagnostic,… …   New thesaurus

  • critical — ► ADJECTIVE 1) expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgements. 2) expressing or involving an analysis of the merits and faults of a literary or artistic work. 3) having a decisive importance in the success or failure of something;… …   English terms dictionary

  • critical — crit|i|cal W2S2 [ˈkrıtıkəl] adj ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(criticizing)¦ 2¦(important)¦ 3¦(serious/worrying)¦ 4¦(ill)¦ 5 the critical list 6¦(making judgments)¦ 7¦(art/literature)¦ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1.) ¦(CRITICIZING)¦ if you are critical, you criticize s …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • critical — [[t]krɪ̱tɪk(ə)l[/t]] ♦♦ 1) ADJ GRADED A critical time, factor, or situation is extremely important. The incident happened at a critical point in the campaign... Environmentalists say a critical factor in the city s pollution is its population...… …   English dictionary

  • critical — adjective Date: 1547 1. a. of, relating to, or being a turning point or specially important juncture < a critical phase >: as (1) relating to or being the stage of a disease at which an abrupt change for better or worse may be expected; also… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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