Origin: Latin suffix -al
Critical has 9 different meanings across 1 category:
A critical value, factor, etc.
"The report identified water access as a critical factor for the village's survival during the drought."
In plain English: A critical is a person who judges things carefully and often points out their flaws.
"The critical analysis of his essay was very helpful for improving his writing skills."
Usage: Use "critical" as a noun only in technical fields like engineering or medicine to refer to a specific threshold or vital element. In standard everyday English, it is almost always an adjective describing something essential or of great importance.
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"
characterized by careful evaluation and judgment
"a critical reading"
"a critical dissertation"
"a critical analysis of Melville's writings"
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"
Inclined to find fault or criticize
"The new manager is so critical that he constantly points out every minor mistake in our reports."
In plain English: Critical means extremely important or necessary for something to succeed.
"The critical situation required immediate medical attention."
Usage: Use "critical" to describe someone who habitually finds fault with others or their work. Do not use it interchangeably with "criticizing," which refers to the act of offering an opinion rather than a personality trait.
The word critical comes from the Latin criticus and ultimately from the Ancient Greek kritikos, which originally meant "able to discern" or "of or for judging." Its root is the verb krínō, meaning "to separate" or "to judge," a term that also gave rise to the related word crisis.