Dictionary  crit•i•calPronunciation: (krit'i-kul), [key] —adj. 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. Med.(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. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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