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critical - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'critical' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Critical [ n.]
- Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic productions.
- Pertaining to criticism or the critic's art; of the nature of a criticism; accurate; as, critical knowledge; a critical dissertation.
- Inclined to make nice distinctions, or to exercise careful judgment and selection; exact; nicely judicious.
- Inclined to criticise or find fault; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.
- Characterized by thoroughness and a reference to principles, as becomes a critic; as, a critical analysis of a subject.
- Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis, turning point, or specially important juncture; important as regards consequences; hence, of doubtful issue; attended with risk; dangerous; as, the critical stage of a fever; a critical situation.

Meaning of 'critical' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . critical [ a]
Meaning (1):
- characterized by careful evaluation and judgment
Example in sentence:
  • a critical analysis of Melville's writings;
  • a critical dissertation;
  • a critical reading
Meaning (2):
- marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws
Example in sentence:
  • a critical attitude
Meaning (3):
- being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency
Example in sentence:
  • a critical illness;
  • a critical shortage of food;
  • an illness at the critical stage
Meaning (4):
- at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction
Example in sentence:
  • a critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure;
  • critical mass;
  • go critical
Meaning (5):
- of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism
Example in sentence:
  • critical acclaim
6 . critical [ s]
Meaning (6):
- urgently needed; absolutely necessary
Example in sentence:
  • a critical element of the plan;
  • critical medical supplies;
  • of vital interest;
  • vital for a healthy society
Meaning (7):
- forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis
Example in sentence:
  • a critical point in the campaign;
  • the critical test

Nearby Words:

crib crib-biter crib-biting cribbage cribbed cribbing cribble cribbled cribbling cribellum

See 'critical' also in:

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