Critical
WordNet
adjective
(1) Marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws
"A critical attitude"
(2) Characterized by careful evaluation and judgment
"A critical reading"
"A critical dissertation"
"A critical analysis of Melville's writings"
(3) 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"
(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
"A critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure"
"Critical mass"
"Go critical"
(5) Forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis
"A critical point in the campaign"
"The critical test"
(6) Urgently needed; absolutely necessary
"A critical element of the plan"
"Critical medical supplies"
"Vital for a healthy society"
"Of vital interest"
(7) Of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism
"Critical acclaim"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From the suffix and < < (krinein) ('to separate, judge'; also the root of crisis)
Adjective
- Inclined to find fault or criticize; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.
- A good teacher is fair but critical.
- Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis or turning point.
- This is a critical moment.
- Extremely important.
- It's critical that you deliver this on time.
- Relating to criticism or careful analysis, such as literary or film criticism.
- The movie was a critical success, but bombed at the box-office.
- Of a condition involving unstable vital signs and an unfavorable prognosis.
- The patient's condition is critical.
- Likely to go out of control if disturbed, that is, opposite of stable.
- The political situation was so critical that the government declared the state of siege.
- Of the point (in temperature, reagent concentration etc.) where a nuclear or chemical reaction becomes self-sustaining.
- The reaction was about to become critical.