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critical

/ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kəl/adjective3 syllables

Critical means: marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws.

Synonyms for critical38

adjective, as in marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws

captious, faultfinding, censorious, deprecative, hypercritical, overcritical, searing, scathing, vituperative, sarcastic, unfavorable, unfavourable

adjective, as in being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency

acute, dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, life-threatening, desperate, dire, crucial, important

adjective, as in characterized by careful evaluation and judgment

appraising, evaluative, discriminative, judicial, discerning, scholarly

adjective, as in forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis

decisive, crucial, important

adjective, as in urgently needed; absolutely necessary

vital, indispensable

adjective, as in at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction

supercritical

also used for critical

fastidious, exacting, judgmental, imperative, crit

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Opposites of critical

uncritical, noncritical

What does critical mean?7

adjective

1

marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws“a critical attitude”

2

being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency“a critical shortage of food”

3

characterized by careful evaluation and judgment“a critical reading”

4

forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis“a critical point in the campaign”

5

urgently needed; absolutely necessary“a critical element of the plan”

6

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”

7

of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism“critical acclaim”

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

What rhymes with critical?3

6 syllables

geopolitical
Show 27 near rhymes
significantphysicalmichigancertificatesignificancestatisticalcoincidencewillingnesscertificatesempiricalcynicalmysticalinsignificantsyndicatelyricalenglishmanubiquitouscylindricallogisticaldiligentmetaphysicalellipticalstereotypicalatypicalwhimsicalbasilicaumbilical

Critical in a sentence

  • For a baby giraffe, its first few weeks are the most critical.Amastan
  • Archaeology is critical to the study of all history, but especially prehistory.Auride
  • Although generally singing her praises, he could, at times, be quite critical.WarsawWill
  • Without electricity, critical surgeries and treatments are compromised.Amastan
  • Without fuel, backup power generators won't run, risking critical outages.Amastan
  • Diplomacy, peacekeeping, and humanitarian aid are critical responses to a genocidal war.Amastan
  • The military intelligence service gathers, analyzes, and disseminates information critical to national security.Igider
  • The bullet penetrated his chest, leaving him in critical condition.CM

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.