Critical

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 determine what is graceful and what is not. --Holder. [1913 Webster]

2. Pertaining to criticism or the critic's art; of the nature of a criticism; accurate; as, critical knowledge; a critical dissertation. [1913 Webster]

3. Inclined to make nice distinctions, or to exercise careful judgment and selection; exact; nicely judicious. [1913 Webster]

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. --Bp. Stillingfleet. [1913 Webster]

4. Inclined to criticise or find fault; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting. [1913 Webster]

O gentle lady, do not put me to 't, For I am nothing, if not critical. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5. Characterized by thoroughness and a reference to principles, as becomes a critic; as, a critical analysis of a subject. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Our circumstances are indeed critical. --Burke. [1913 Webster]

The small moment, the exact point, the critical minute, on which every good work so much depends. --South. [1913 Webster]

{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.'' [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Synonyms:

Exact, nice, accurate / Censorious, carping, cavilling, captious / Determining, decisive, crucial, turning, important / Dangerous, hazardous, imminent, momentous, dubious, precarious, ticklish

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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 — [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… … English World dictionary
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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Critical

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Critical

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