critical

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 someone or something
critical of
Many economists are critical of the government's economic policies.
Many parents are strongly critical of the school.
He made some highly critical remarks.
2.) ¦(IMPORTANT)¦
something that is critical is very important because what happens in the future depends on it
= ↑crucial critical to
These talks are critical to the future of the peace process.
It is absolutely critical for us to know the truth.
Foreign trade is of critical importance to the economy.
3.) ¦(SERIOUS/WORRYING)¦
a critical time or situation is serious and worrying because things might suddenly become much worse
The fighting has stopped, but the situation is still critical.
changes that took place during the critical period at the end of the war
4.) ¦(ILL)¦
so ill that you might die
He is still in a critical condition in hospital.
She is in intensive care, where she remains critical but stable.
5.) the critical list
a) the list of patients in a hospital who are so ill that they might die
on the critical list
Two of the victims were still on the critical list Sunday night.
take sb off the critical list
He was taken off the critical list and is now in a stable condition.
b) if a system, plan, company etc is on the critical list, it is having severe problems and might fail soon
6.) ¦(MAKING JUDGMENTS)¦
making careful judgments about how good or bad something is
His book provides a critical analysis of the television industry in Britain.
She looked round the room with a critical eye .
7.) ¦(ART/LITERATURE)¦
according to critics who give judgments about art, films, theatre, and books
The book came out last year to great critical acclaim (=critics said it was very good) .
Her first play was a critical success (=critics said it was good) .

Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.

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  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 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 — [[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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