critical

1. 1
   very importantadjective

   Extremely important, especially to the success or outcome of something.

   Securing funding at this stage is critical to the project's survival.

   The next few hours are critical for the rescue effort.

   UsageUsually critical to or critical for something, or it is critical that + clause.

   Similarcrucial, imperative, key

   Oppositeunimportant, insignificant, inessential, trivial

2. 2
   arts reviewadjective

   Relating to the careful analysis and judgment of works such as literature or film.

   The film earned critical acclaim at festivals around the world.

   Critical essays on the novel fill several thick volumes.

   UsageThis is about reviewers, not fault-finding: critical acclaim and a critical success mean the critics praised it.

   Similarinterpretive

   Note

   A critical success is one the reviewers praised, whether or not it sold well. The word points to the critics as opposed to the box office, not to praise as opposed to blame.

3. 3
   fault-findingadjective

   Tending to find fault or to judge people and things harshly.

   He grew increasingly critical of his colleagues' work.

   A critical parent can make a child anxious about every small task.

   UsageUse of for the person or thing judged: critical of his work. It can be fair rather than insulting.

   Similarjudgmental, exacting, censorious, captious

   Oppositeapproving, complimentary, appreciative

4. 4
   reasonedadjective

   Marked by careful, balanced assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of something, grounded in reasoning and evidence.

   The course teaches critical thinking by having students weigh opposing arguments.

   Historians must bring a critical approach to every source, including the ones they agree with.

   UsageMost often before nouns like critical thinking, a critical approach or a critical reading, where it means careful judging, not fault-finding.

   Similaranalytical, discerning, evaluative

   Oppositeuncritical

5. 5
   gravely illadjective

   Of a patient: so seriously ill or injured, with unstable vital signs, that they may die without urgent care.

   Her condition was upgraded from critical to stable overnight.

   The burns left him in critical condition for weeks.

   UsageUsually in the phrase in critical condition; hospital reports also use it alone, as in upgraded from critical to serious.

   Note

   Hospital condition reports treat critical as one rung on a scale, which is why a patient can be upgraded from critical to serious. The same word names critical care, the branch of medicine practiced in intensive care units. It signals unstable vital signs and a prognosis that could worsen, and it is not by itself a forecast of death.

6. 6
   turning pointadjective

   Relating to or marking a crisis or decisive turning point.

   The negotiations entered a critical phase last week.

   This is a critical juncture in the country's history.

   UsageUsually before time words: a critical stage, a critical moment, at a critical juncture.

   Similardecisive, pivotal

7. 7
   thresholdadjective

   Relating to or at the point, such as a particular temperature, pressure, or mass, at which a sudden change happens, for example a nuclear reaction becoming self-sustaining.

   The reactor became critical once neutron production balanced the losses.

   Engineers carefully monitor the moment the core goes critical.

   UsageOften with go or become: a reactor goes critical. Before a noun: critical mass.

   Note

   Physics gives critical an exact threshold: the point where a reaction feeds itself, with each event producing on average exactly one further event. Below that point the reaction dies away. The threshold can be set by temperature or by the concentration of a reagent, so chemists use the word as well as nuclear physicists.

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