critical
adjective
1. marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws
- a critical attitude
Similar word(s): captious, faultfinding, censorious, deprecative, hypercritical, overcritical, searing, scathing, vituperative, unfavorable, unfavourable, sarcastic
2. at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction
- a critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure
- critical mass
- go critical
Similar word(s): supercritical
3. characterized by careful evaluation and judgment
- a critical reading
- a critical dissertation
- a critical analysis of Melville's writings
Similar word(s): appraising, evaluative, discriminative, judicial, discerning, scholarly
4. urgently needed; absolutely necessary
- a critical element of the plan
- critical medical supplies
Similar word(s): indispensable, vital
5. forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis
- a critical point in the campaign
- the critical test
Similar word(s): crucial, important, decisive
6. being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency
- a critical shortage of food
- a critical illness
- an illness at the critical stage
Similar word(s): acute, dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, desperate, dire, crucial, important
7. of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism
- critical acclaim
Sentences with critical as an adjective:
- A good teacher is fair but critical.
- This is a critical moment.
- It's critical that you deliver this on time.
- The movie was a critical success, but bombed at the box-office.
- The patient's condition is critical.
- The political situation was so critical that the government declared the state of siege.
- The reaction was about to become critical.
noun
1. A critical value, factor, etc.