critical

Definitions of critical in various dictionaries:

adj - marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws

adj - at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction

adj - characterized by careful evaluation and judgment

adj - urgently needed

adj - forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis

adj - being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency

adj - of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism

Inclined to judge severely and find fault.

Characterized by careful, exact evaluation and judgment: a critical reading.

Of, relating to, or characteristic of critics or criticism: critical acclaim; a critical analysis of Melville’s writings.

Forming or having the nature of a turning point; crucial or decisive: a critical point in the campaign.

Of or relating to a medical crisis: an illness at the critical stage.

Being or relating to a grave physical condition especially of a patient.

Indispensable; essential: a critical element of the plan; a second income that is critical to the family’s well-being.

Being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency: a critical shortage of food.

Fraught with danger or risk; perilous.

Of or relating to a point at which a curve has a maximum, minimum, or point of inflection.

Of or relating to the value of a measurement, such as temperature, at which an abrupt change in a quality, property, or state occurs: A critical temperature of water is 100C, its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure.

The central meaning shared by these adj ectives is “tending or marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws”: a critical attitude; a captious pedant; censorious of petty failings; an excessively demanding and faultfinding tutor; hypercritical of colloquial speech.

adj - one who judges the merits of something [n -S] : CRITICAL