Adjective

critical (comparative more critical, superlative most critical)

Positive critical

Comparative more critical

Superlative most critical

1. Inclined to find fault or criticize; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.

   A good teacher is fair but critical.

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

   This is a critical moment.

3. Extremely important.

   It's critical that you deliver this on time.

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

   The movie was a critical success, but bombed at the box-office.

5. (medicine) Of a condition involving unstable vital signs and an unfavorable prognosis.

   The patient's condition is critical.

6. 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.

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

   The reaction was about to become critical.

Derived terms

• criticality
• critically
• criticalness
• critical angle

• critical mass
• critical point
• critical thinking

Related terms

• critic
• criticism

Philosophy

• critical theory - concepts in social theory and in literary criticism

Psychology and education

• critical pedagogy - helping students achieve critical consciousness
• critical psychology - critiquing mainstream psychology, often looking towards social change as a means of preventing and treating psychopathology
• critical thinking - mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation

Biology and medicine

• critical care - intensive care medicine
  • critical condition - grade of severity of a medical condition
• critical period - a time in the early stages of an organism's life during which it displays a heightened sensitivity to certain environmental stimuli, and develops in particular ways due to experiences at this time