Critically definition | Dictionary.com

crit⋅i⋅cal

[krit-i-kuh

–adjective

1.	inclined to find fault or to judge with severity, often too readily.

2.	occupied with or skilled in criticism.

3.	involving skillful judgment as to truth, merit, etc.; judicial: a critical analysis.

4.	of or pertaining to critics or criticism: critical essays.

5.	providing textual variants, proposed emendations, etc.: a critical edition of Chaucer.

6.	pertaining to or of the nature of a crisis: a critical shortage of food.

7.	of decisive importance with respect to the outcome; crucial: a critical moment.

8.	of essential importance; indispensable: a critical ingredient.

9.	Medicine/Medical. (of a patient's condition) having unstable and abnormal vital signs and other unfavorable indicators, as loss of appetite, poor mobility, or unconsciousness.

10.

Physics.

a.	pertaining to a state, value, or quantity at which one or more properties of a substance or system undergo a change.

b.	(of fissionable material) having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction.

Origin:
1580–90; critic + -al ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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crit·i·cal (krĭt'ĭ-kəl) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Inclined to judge severely and find fault.
Characterized by careful, exact evaluation and judgment: a critical reading.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of critics or criticism: critical acclaim; a critical analysis of Melville's writings.
Forming or having the nature of a turning point; crucial or decisive: a critical point in the campaign.
1. Of or relating to a medical crisis: an illness at the critical stage.
2. Being or relating to a grave physical condition especially of a patient.
Indispensable; essential: a critical element of the plan; a second income that is critical to the family's well-being.
Being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency: a critical shortage of food.
Fraught with danger or risk; perilous.
Mathematics Of or relating to a point at which a curve has a horizontal tangent line, as at a maximum or minimum.
Chemistry & Physics Of or relating to the value of a measurement, such as temperature, at which an abrupt change in a quality, property, or state occurs: A critical temperature of water is 100°C, its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure.
Physics Capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction.

crit'i·cal·ly adv., crit'i·cal·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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