Synonyms for critical

Adjective

1. critical (vs. uncritical), captious, faultfinding, caviling, carping, nitpicking, pettifogging, quibbling, censorious, deprecative, hypercritical, overcritical, scathing, blistering, scalding, vituperative, sarcastic, unfavorable#1, unfavourable

usage: marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws; "a critical attitude"

2. critical (vs. noncritical), supercritical

usage: at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction; "a critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure"; "critical mass"; "go critical"

3. critical (vs. uncritical), appraising(prenominal), evaluative, discriminative, judicial, discerning, scholarly

usage: characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; "a critical reading"; "a critical dissertation"; "a critical analysis of Melville's writings"

4. critical, vital, indispensable (vs. dispensable)

usage: urgently needed; absolutely necessary; "a critical element of the plan"; "critical medical supplies"; "vital for a healthy society"; "of vital interest"

5. critical, decisive, crucial (vs. noncrucial), important

usage: forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis; "a critical point in the campaign"; "the critical test"

6. critical (vs. noncritical), acute, dangerous, grave, grievous, serious, severe, life-threatening, desperate, dire, crucial#1, important

usage: being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency; "a critical shortage of food"; "a critical illness"; "an illness at the critical stage"

7. critical

usage: of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism; "critical acclaim"