critical

(krĭtˈĭ-kəl)

1. Inclined to judge severely and find fault.
2. Characterized by careful, exact evaluation and judgment: a critical reading.
3. Of, relating to, or characteristic of critics or criticism: critical acclaim; a critical analysis of Melville's writings.
4. Forming or having the nature of a turning point; crucial or decisive: a critical point in the campaign.
5. a. Of or relating to a medical crisis: an illness at the critical stage.
   b. Being or relating to a grave physical condition especially of a patient.
6. Indispensable; essential: a critical element of the plan; a second income that is critical to the family's well-being.
7. Being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency: a critical shortage of food.
8. Fraught with danger or risk; perilous.
9. Mathematics Of or relating to a point at which a curve has a horizontal tangent line, as at a maximum or minimum.
10. 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.
11. Physics Capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction.

Related Forms:

• critˈi·cal·ly adverb

• critˈi·cal·ness noun