Critical vs. Crucial

By Jaxson

  • Critical (adjective)

    Inclined to find fault or criticize

    “fastidious|captious|censorious|exacting”

    “A good teacher is fair but critical.”

  • Critical (adjective)

    Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis or turning point.

    “This is a critical moment.”

  • Critical (adjective)

    Extremely important.

    “It’s critical that you deliver this on time.”

  • Critical (adjective)

    Relating to criticism or careful analysis, such as literary or film criticism.

    “The movie was a critical success, but bombed at the box-office.”

  • Critical (adjective)

    Of a patient condition involving unstable vital signs and a prognosis that predicts the condition could worsen; or, a patient condition that requires urgent treatment in an intensive care or critical care medical facility.

    “The patient’s condition is critical.”

  • Critical (adjective)

    Likely to go out of control if disturbed, that is, opposite of stable.

    “The political situation was so critical that the government declared the state of siege.”

  • Critical (adjective)

    Of the point (in nuclear or chemical reaction becomes self-sustaining.

    “The reaction was about to become critical.”

  • Critical (adjective)

    (physics) Of a temperature that is equal to the temperature of the liquefied.

  • Critical (noun)

    A critical value, factor, etc.

  • Critical (noun)

    In breakdancing, a kind of airflare move in which the dancer hops from one hand to the other.

  • Crucial (adjective)

    Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important.

    “Thesaurus:important”

    “The battle of Tali-Ihantala in 1944 is one of the crucial moments in the history of Finland.”

    “A secure supply of crude oil is crucial for any modern nation, let alone a superpower.”

  • Crucial (adjective)

    Cruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.

  • Crucial (adjective)

    Very good; excellent; particularly applied to reggae music.

    “Delbert Wilkins is the most crucial pirate radio DJ in Brixton.”

Wiktionary
  • Critical (adjective)

    expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgements

    “I was very critical of the previous regime”

  • Critical (adjective)

    expressing or involving an analysis of the merits and faults of a work of literature, music, or art

    “she never won the critical acclaim she sought”

  • Critical (adjective)

    (of a text) incorporating a detailed and scholarly analysis and commentary

    “a critical edition of a Bach sonata”

  • Critical (adjective)

    involving the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement

    “professors often find it difficult to encourage critical thinking amongst their students”

  • Critical (adjective)

    (of a situation or problem) having the potential to become disastrous; at a point of crisis

    “the floodwaters had not receded and the situation was still critical”

  • Critical (adjective)

    extremely ill and at risk of death

    “she was critical but stable in Middlesbrough General Hospital”

  • Critical (adjective)

    having a decisive or crucial importance in the success, failure, or existence of something

    “getting banks lending again was critical to any recovery”

    “time-critical tasks”

    “temperature is a critical factor in successful fruit storage”

  • Critical (adjective)

    relating to or denoting a point of transition from one state to another

    “if the density is less than a certain critical value the gravitational attraction will be too weak to halt the expansion”

  • Critical (adjective)

    (of a nuclear reactor or fuel) maintaining a self-sustaining chain reaction

    “the reactor is due to go critical in October”

Oxford Dictionary

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