HyperDic: critical

English > 7 senses of the word *critical*:
ADJECTIVE	all	critical	marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws
	all	critical	at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain / sustain a chain ... / chain reaction
	all	critical	characterized by careful evaluation and judgment
	all	critical, vital	urgently needed
	all	critical, decisive	forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis
	all	critical	being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency
	pert	critical	of or involving or characteristic of critics / critics or criticism / criticism

critical > pronunciation
Sounds	krih'tihkahl
Rhymes	abdominal ... zoological: 2115 rhymes with ahl...

English > *critical*: 7 senses > adjective 1
Meaning	marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws.
Example	"a critical attitude"
Narrower	captious, faultfinding	tending to find and call attention to faults / faults
	censorious	harshly critical or expressing censure
	deprecative	given to expressing disapproval
	hypercritical, overcritical	Inclined to judge / judge too severely
	scathing, vituperative	marked by harshly abusive criticism
	searing	Severely critical
See also	sarcastic	Expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
See also	unfavorable, unfavourable	not encouraging or approving or pleasing
Opposite	uncritical	not critical
Spanish	crítico
Catalan	crític
Nouns	critic	someone who frequently finds fault or makes harsh and unfair judgments
Nouns	criticism	disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings

English > *critical*: 7 senses > adjective 2
Meaning	At or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain / sustain a chain ... / chain reaction.
Examples	"a critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure" "critical mass" "go critical"
Category	chemistry, chemical science	The science of matter
Category	physics, natural philosophy	The science of matter and energy and their interactions
Attribute of	criticality	A critical state
Narrower	supercritical	(especially of fissionable material) able to sustain a chain ... / chain reaction in such a manner that the rate of reaction increases
Opposite	noncritical	not critical
Spanish	crítico
Catalan	crític
Nouns	criticality	a critical state

English > *critical*: 7 senses > adjective 3
Meaning	Characterized by careful evaluation and judgment.
Examples	"a critical reading" "a critical dissertation" "a critical analysis of Melville's writings"
Narrower	appraising, evaluative	Exercising or involving careful evaluations
Narrower	discriminative, judicial	Expressing careful judgment
See also	discerning	Having or revealing keen insight and good judgment
See also	scholarly	characteristic of scholars or scholarship
Opposite	uncritical, noncritical	marked by disregard for critical standards or procedures
Spanish	crítico
Catalan	crític
Nouns	critic	anyone who expresses a reasoned judgment of something
Nouns	criticism	a serious examination and judgment of something
Adverbs	critically	in a critical manner

English > *critical*: 7 senses > adjective 4
Meaning	urgently needed; absolutely necessary.
Examples	"a critical element of the plan" "critical medical supplies"
Synonym	vital
Broader	indispensable	not to be dispensed with
Spanish	crítico, elemental, esencial, fundamental, indispensable, primordial, vital
Catalan	elemental, essencial, fonamental, indispensable, primordial
Nouns	criticality, criticalness	a state of critical urgency

English > *critical*: 7 senses > adjective 5
Meaning	forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis.
Examples	"a critical point in the campaign" "the critical test"
Synonym	decisive
Broader	crucial, important	Of extreme / extreme importance
Spanish	alarmante, clave, crítico, decisivo, fundamental
Catalan	alarmant, clau, crític, decisiu, fonamental
Nouns	crisis	a crucial stage / stage or turning point in the course of something
	crisis	an unstable / unstable situation of extreme / extreme danger or difficulty
	criticalness	a state of critical urgency

English > *critical*: 7 senses > adjective 6
Meaning	In or verging on a state of crisis or emergency.
Examples	"a critical shortage of food" "a critical illness" "an illness at the critical stage"
Attribute of	crisis	An unstable / unstable situation of extreme / extreme danger or difficulty
Narrower	acute	Of critical importance and consequence
	dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, life-threatening	Causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm
	desperate, dire	fraught with extreme / extreme danger
See also	crucial, important	Of extreme / extreme importance
Opposite	noncritical, noncrucial	not in a state of crisis or emergency
Spanish	alarmante, crítico, grave
Catalan	alarmant, crític, greu
Nouns	criticality, criticalness	a state of critical urgency

English > *critical*: 7 senses > adjective 7, pert
Meaning	Of or involving or characteristic of critics / critics or criticism / criticism.
Example	"critical acclaim"
Nouns	critic	a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art
	critic	anyone who expresses a reasoned judgment of something
	critic	someone who frequently finds fault or makes harsh and unfair judgments
	criticism	a serious examination and judgment of something
	criticism	a written evaluation of a work of literature

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