| critical | | |
| adj. | 1. critical | marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws.; "a critical attitude" |
| ~ captious, faultfinding | tending to find and call attention to faults.; "a captious pedant"; "an excessively demanding and faultfinding tutor" |
| ~ censorious | harshly critical or expressing censure.; "was censorious of petty failings" |
| ~ deprecative | given to expressing disapproval. |
| ~ hypercritical, overcritical | inclined to judge too severely.; "hypercritical of colloquial speech"; "the overcritical teacher can discourage originality" |
| ~ searing | severely critical. |
| ~ scathing, vituperative | marked by harshly abusive criticism.; "his scathing remarks about silly lady novelists"; "her vituperative railing" |
| ~ unfavorable, unfavourable | not encouraging or approving or pleasing.; "unfavorable conditions"; "an unfavorable comparison"; "unfavorable comments"; "unfavorable impression" |
| ~ sarcastic | expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds. |
| adj. | 2. critical | 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" |
| ~ chemical science, chemistry | the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions. |
| ~ natural philosophy, physics | the science of matter and energy and their interactions.; "his favorite subject was physics" |
| ~ supercritical | (especially of fissionable material) able to sustain a chain reaction in such a manner that the rate of reaction increases. |
| adj. | 3. critical | characterized by careful evaluation and judgment.; "a critical reading"; "a critical dissertation"; "a critical analysis of Melville's writings" |
| ~ appraising, evaluative | exercising or involving careful evaluations.; "looked him over with an appraising eye"; "the literary judge uses many evaluative terms" |
| ~ discriminative, judicial | expressing careful judgment.; "discriminative censure"; "a biography ...appreciative and yet judicial in purpose" |
| ~ discerning | having or revealing keen insight and good judgment.; "a discerning critic"; "a discerning reader" |
| ~ scholarly | characteristic of scholars or scholarship.; "scholarly pursuits"; "a scholarly treatise"; "a scholarly attitude" |
| adj. | 4. critical, vital | urgently needed; absolutely necessary.; "a critical element of the plan"; "critical medical supplies"; "vital for a healthy society"; "of vital interest" |
| ~ indispensable | not to be dispensed with; essential.; "foods indispensable to good nutrition" |
| adj. | 5. critical, decisive | forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis.; "a critical point in the campaign"; "the critical test" |
| ~ crucial, important | of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis.; "a crucial moment in his career"; "a crucial election"; "a crucial issue for women" |
| adj. | 6. critical | 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" |
| ~ acute | of critical importance and consequence.; "an acute (or critical) lack of research funds" |
| ~ grievous, life-threatening, dangerous, grave, serious, severe | causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm.; "a dangerous operation"; "a grave situation"; "a grave illness"; "grievous bodily harm"; "a serious wound"; "a serious turn of events"; "a severe case of pneumonia"; "a life-threatening disease" |
| ~ dire, desperate | fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless.; "a desperate illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"; "a dire emergency" |
| ~ crucial, important | of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis.; "a crucial moment in his career"; "a crucial election"; "a crucial issue for women" |
| adj. (pertain) | 7. critical | of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism.; "critical acclaim" |
| criticize | | |
| v. (communication) | 1. criticise, criticize, knock, pick apart | find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws.; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free" |
| ~ pass judgment, evaluate, judge | form a critical opinion of.; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"; "How do you evaluate this grant proposal?"; "We shouldn't pass judgment on other people" |
| ~ censure, reprimand, criminate | rebuke formally. |
| ~ savage, pillory, crucify, blast | criticize harshly or violently.; "The press savaged the new President"; "The critics crucified the author for plagiarizing a famous passage" |
| ~ reprove, admonish | take to task.; "He admonished the child for his bad behavior" |
| ~ bawl out, berate, call on the carpet, chew out, chew up, chide, dress down, have words, rebuke, reproof, scold, take to task, call down, lambast, lambaste, lecture, reprimand, remonstrate, trounce, jaw, rag | censure severely or angrily.; "The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car"; "The deputy ragged the Prime Minister"; "The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup" |
| ~ reprehend | express strong disapproval of. |
| ~ deplore | express strong disapproval of.; "We deplore the government's treatment of political prisoners" |
| ~ belabor, belabour | attack verbally with harsh criticism.; "She was belabored by her fellow students" |
| ~ come down | criticize or reprimand harshly.; "The critics came down hard on the new play" |
| ~ denounce | speak out against.; "He denounced the Nazis" |
| ~ find fault, blame, pick | harass with constant criticism.; "Don't always pick on your little brother" |
| ~ disparage, belittle, pick at | express a negative opinion of.; "She disparaged her student's efforts" |
| ~ nitpick | be overly critical; criticize minor details. |
| ~ lash out, attack, assail, assault, snipe, round | attack in speech or writing.; "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker" |
| ~ comment, point out, remark, notice | make or write a comment on.; "he commented the paper of his colleague" |
| ~ harsh on | criticize harshly.; "the teacher keeps harshing on the same kid" |
| v. (competition) | 2. criticise, criticize | act as a critic.; "Those who criticize others often are not perfect, either" |
| ~ act | discharge one's duties.; "She acts as the chair"; "In what capacity are you acting?" |
| denounce | | |
| v. (communication) | 1. denounce | speak out against.; "He denounced the Nazis" |
| ~ criticise, criticize, pick apart, knock | find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws.; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free" |
| ~ fulminate, rail | criticize severely.; "He fulminated against the Republicans' plan to cut Medicare"; "She railed against the bad social policies" |
| ~ condemn, decry, excoriate, objurgate, reprobate | express strong disapproval of.; "We condemn the racism in South Africa"; "These ideas were reprobated" |
| v. (social) | 2. brand, denounce, mark, stigmatise, stigmatize | to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful.; "He denounced the government action"; "She was stigmatized by society because she had a child out of wedlock" |
| ~ label | assign a label to; designate with a label.; "These students were labelled `learning disabled'" |
| v. (communication) | 3. denounce | announce the termination of, as of treaties. |
| ~ announce, denote | make known; make an announcement.; "She denoted her feelings clearly" |
| v. (communication) | 4. betray, denounce, give away, grass, rat, shit, shop, snitch, stag, tell on | give away information about somebody.; "He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam" |
| ~ inform | impart knowledge of some fact, state or affairs, or event to.; "I informed him of his rights" |
| ~ sell out | give information that compromises others. |
| rebuke | | |
| n. (communication) | 1. rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval | an act or expression of criticism and censure.; "he had to take the rebuke with a smile on his face" |
| ~ riot act | a vigorous reprimand.; "I read him the riot act" |
| ~ criticism, unfavorable judgment | disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings.; "the senator received severe criticism from his opponent" |
| ~ chiding, objurgation, scolding, tongue-lashing | rebuking a person harshly. |
| ~ what for | a strong reprimand. |
| ~ bawling out, castigation, chewing out, dressing down, upbraiding, earful, going-over | a severe scolding. |
| ~ berating, blowing up | a severe rebuke.; "he deserved the berating that the coach gave him" |
| ~ reproach | a mild rebuke or criticism.; "words of reproach" |
| ~ talking to, lecture, speech | a lengthy rebuke.; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" |
| ~ chastening, chastisement, correction | a rebuke for making a mistake. |
| ~ admonishment, monition, admonition | a firm rebuke. |
| v. (communication) | 2. bawl out, berate, call down, call on the carpet, chew out, chew up, chide, dress down, have words, jaw, lambast, lambaste, lecture, rag, rebuke, remonstrate, reprimand, reproof, scold, take to task, trounce | censure severely or angrily.; "The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car"; "The deputy ragged the Prime Minister"; "The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup" |
| ~ castigate, chasten, chastise, objurgate, correct | censure severely.; "She chastised him for his insensitive remarks" |
| ~ brush down, tell off | reprimand.; "She told the misbehaving student off" |
| ~ criticise, criticize, pick apart, knock | find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws.; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free" |
Recent comments
2 weeks 5 days ago
7 weeks 1 hour ago
8 weeks 2 days ago
23 weeks 4 days ago
23 weeks 4 days ago
23 weeks 5 days ago
24 weeks 2 days ago
28 weeks 3 days ago
29 weeks 3 days ago
30 weeks 1 day ago