critical

[Crit·ic*al]

The adjective critical has several meanings, among them, "vital," "verging on emergency," "tending to point out errors," and "careful."

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Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic productions.

Adjective
marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws; "a critical attitude"

Adjective
characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; "a critical reading"; "a critical dissertation"; "a critical analysis of Melville''s writings"

Adjective
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"

Adjective
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";

Adjective S.
forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis; "a critical point in the campaign"; "the critical test"

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Adjective S.
urgently needed; absolutely necessary; "a critical element of the plan"; "critical medical supplies"; "vital for a healthy society"; "of vital interest"

Adjective
of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism; "critical acclaim"

n.
Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic productions.

n.
Pertaining to criticism or the critic's art; of the nature of a criticism; accurate; as, critical knowledge; a critical dissertation.

n.
Inclined to make nice distinctions, or to exercise careful judgment and selection; exact; nicely judicious.

n.
Inclined to criticise or find fault; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.

n.
Characterized by thoroughness and a reference to principles, as becomes a critic; as, a critical analysis of a subject.

n.
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.

Critical

Crit"ic*al (kr?t"?-kal), a. [See Critic, n., Crisis.] 1. Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic productions.

It is submitted to the judgment of more critical ears to direct and determine what is graceful and what is not.

2. Pertaining to criticism or the critic's art; of the nature of a criticism; accurate; as, critical knowledge; a critical dissertation. 3. Inclined to make nice distinctions, or to exercise careful judgment and selection; exact; nicely judicious.

Virgil was so critical in the rites of religion. that he would never have brought in such prayers as these, if they had not been agreeable to the Roman customs.

4. Inclined to criticise or find fault; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.

O gentle lady, do not put me to 't, For I am nothing, if not critical.

5. Characterized by thoroughness and a reference to principles, as becomes a critic; as, a critical analysis of a subject. 6. [See Crisis.] 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.

Our circumstances are indeed critical.

The small moment, the exact point, the critical minute, on which every good work so much depends.

Critical angle (Optics), that angle of incidence of a luminous ray at which it is wholly reflected, and no portion of it transmitted. The sine of this angle is the reciprocal of the refractive index of the medium. -- Critical philosophy, the metaphysical system of Kant; -- so called from his most important work, the "Critique of Pure Reason." -- Critical point (Physics), a certain temperature, different for different gases, but always the same for each gas, regarded as the limit above which no amount of pressure can produce condensation to a liquid.

Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic productions.

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Usage Examples

An art whose medium is language will always show a high degree of critical creativeness, for speech is itself a critique of life: it names, it characterizes, it passes judgment, in that it creates.

Fame can be just so annoying because people are so critical of you. You can't just say, 'hi'. You say hi and people whisper' man did you see the way she said hi? What an attitude.

Design is so critical it should be on the agenda of every meeting in every single department.

And let's be clear: It's not enough just to limit ads for foods that aren't healthy. It's also going to be critical to increase marketing for foods that are healthy.

By cutting critical domestic programs such as education, health, environmental protection, and veterans' services, this budget reveals misplaced priorities.

Fairness forces you - even when you're writing a piece highly critical of, say, genetically modified food, as I have done - to make sure you represent the other side as extensively and as accurately as you possibly can.

And when these advances are made, hydrogen can fill critical energy needs beyond transportation. Hydrogen can also be used to heat and generate electricity for our homes. The future possibilities of this energy source are enormous.

And whether it is equal pay, health care, Social Security, or family leave, this Congress has refused to address issues critical to hard-working American women.

Misspelled Form

critical, xcritical, dcritical, fcritical, vcritical, critical, xritical, dritical, fritical, vritical, ritical, cxritical, cdritical, cfritical, cvritical, c ritical, ceritical, c4ritical, c5ritical, ctritical, cfritical, ceitical, c4itical, c5itical, ctitical, cfitical, creitical, cr4itical, cr5itical, crtitical, crfitical, cruitical, cr8itical, cr9itical, croitical, crjitical, crkitical, crutical, cr8tical, cr9tical, crotical, crjtical, crktical, criutical, cri8tical, cri9tical, criotical, crijtical, criktical, crirtical, cri5tical, cri6tical, criytical, crigtical, crirical, cri5ical, cri6ical, criyical, crigical, critrical, crit5ical, crit6ical, crityical, critgical, crituical, crit8ical, crit9ical, critoical, critjical, critkical, critucal, crit8cal, crit9cal, critocal, critjcal, critkcal, critiucal, criti8cal, criti9cal, critiocal, critijcal, critikcal, critixcal, critidcal, critifcal, critivcal, criti cal, critixal, critidal, critifal, critival, criti al, criticxal, criticdal, criticfal, criticval, critic al, criticqal, criticwal, criticsal, criticzal, criticql, criticwl, criticsl, criticzl, criticaql, criticawl, criticasl, criticazl, criticakl, criticaol, criticapl, critica:l, criticak, criticao, criticap, critica:, criticalk, criticalo, criticalp, critical:.

Other Usage Examples

Community health centers do a great deal with limited resources. They provide critical medical care services to many who would otherwise have no other place to go or would end up in an emergency room.

Coal is absolutely critical to our nation's economic health and global competitiveness.

Even scientific knowledge, if there is anything to it, is not a random observation of random objects for the critical objectivity of significant knowledge is attained as a practice only philosophically in inner action.

As this body of knowledge has evolved, a much more critical job for researchers and scientists has evolved into explaining and educating policy makers and the public to the risks of global warming and the possible consequences of action or of no action.

Egypt has been a partner of the United States over the last 30 years, has been instrumental in keeping the peace in the Middle East between Egypt and Israel, which is a critical accomplishment that has meant so much to so many people.

America has a critical role to play as the most powerful member of the world community.

Afghanistan is going to be here a long time, and what's critical is that Afghanistan's relationship with its neighbors are, to the maximum extent they can be, constructive and operationally useful.

A lot of the work in United States is highly critical of technology. I'm using 15,000 watts of power and 18 different pieces of electronic equipment to say that.

As both a local resident and a parent with a CF-afflicted child, I'm thankful for companies like Canon, Chase and Outback who believe that giving back to the community is critical to their role as corporate citizens.