[crit.i.cal] adj (1547) 1 a: of, relating to, or being a turning point or specially important juncture "~ 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: being or relating to an illness or condition involving danger of death "~ care" (2): relating to or being a state in which or a measurement or point at which some quality, property, or phenomenon suffers a definite change "~ temperature" b: crucial, decisive "~ test" c: indispensable, vital "a ~ waterfowl habitat" "a component ~ to the operation of a machine" d: being in or approaching a state of crisis "a ~ shortage" "a ~ situation"
2. a: inclined to criticize severely and unfavorably b: consisting of or involving criticism "~ writings"; also: of or relating to the judgment of critics "the play was a ~ success" c: exercising or involving careful judgment or judicious evaluation d: including variant readings and scholarly emendations "a ~ edition"
3: characterized by risk or uncertainty
4. a: of sufficient size to sustain a chain reaction--used of a mass of fissionable material b: sustaining a chain reaction--used of a nuclear reactor -- crit.i.cal.i.ty n -- crit.i.cal.ly adv -- crit.i.cal.ness n syn critical, hypercritical, faultfinding, captious, carping, censorious mean inclined to look for and point out faults and defects. critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly "a critical essay". hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards "hypercritical disparagement of other people's work". faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament "a faultfinding reviewer". captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds "a captious critic". carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws "a carping editorial". censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory "the censorious tone of the review". syn see in addition acute