CRITICAL

critical

(adjective) marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws; “a critical attitude”

critical

(adjective) characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; “a critical reading”; “a critical dissertation”; “a critical analysis of Melville’s writings”

critical

(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”

critical

(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”; “go critical”

critical, decisive

(adjective) forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis; “a critical point in the campaign”; “the critical test”

critical, vital

(adjective) urgently needed; absolutely necessary; “a critical element of the plan”; “critical medical supplies”; “vital for a healthy society”; “of vital interest”

critical

(adjective) of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism; “critical acclaim”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Adjective

critical (comparative more critical, superlative most critical)

Inclined to find fault or criticize

Synonyms: fastidious, captious, censorious, exacting

Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis or turning point.

Extremely important.

Relating to criticism or careful analysis, such as literary or film criticism.

(medicine) Of a patient condition involving unstable vital signs and a prognosis that predicts the condition could worsen; or, a patient condition that requires urgent treatment in an intensive care or critical care medical facility.

Likely to go out of control if disturbed, that is, opposite of stable.

(physics) Of the point (in temperature, reagent concentration etc.) where a nuclear or chemical reaction becomes self-sustaining.

(physics) Of a temperature that is equal to the temperature of the critical point of a substance, i.e. the temperature above which the substance cannot be liquefied.

Noun

critical (plural criticals)

A critical value, factor, etc.

In breakdancing, a kind of airflare move in which the dancer hops from one hand to the other.

Source: Wiktionary

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Crit"ic*al (krt"-kal), a. Etym: [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. Holder.

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. Bp. Stillingfleet.

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. Shak.

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

6. Etym: [See Crisis.]

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

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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