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Critical (adjective)
Inclined to find fault or criticize
“fastidious|captious|censorious|exacting”
“A good teacher is fair but critical.”
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Critical (adjective)
Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis or turning point.
“This is a critical moment.”
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Critical (adjective)
Extremely important.
“It’s critical that you deliver this on time.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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Critical (adjective)
Of the point (in nuclear or chemical reaction becomes self-sustaining.
“The reaction was about to become critical.”
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Critical (adjective)
(physics) Of a temperature that is equal to the temperature of the liquefied.
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Critical (noun)
A critical value, factor, etc.
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Critical (noun)
In breakdancing, a kind of airflare move in which the dancer hops from one hand to the other.
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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.”
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Crucial (adjective)
Cruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.
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Crucial (adjective)
Very good; excellent; particularly applied to reggae music.
“Delbert Wilkins is the most crucial pirate radio DJ in Brixton.”
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Critical (adjective)
expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgements
“I was very critical of the previous regime”
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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”
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Critical (adjective)
(of a text) incorporating a detailed and scholarly analysis and commentary
“a critical edition of a Bach sonata”
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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”
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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”
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Critical (adjective)
extremely ill and at risk of death
“she was critical but stable in Middlesbrough General Hospital”
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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”
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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”
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Critical (adjective)
(of a nuclear reactor or fuel) maintaining a self-sustaining chain reaction
“the reactor is due to go critical in October”