critical.

1. Important enough to determine whether something succeeds, fails, or changes course.

2. Concerned with examining and judging the strengths, weaknesses, or meaning of something.

3. Inclined to find fault or expressing disapproval.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• critical stage
• critical factor

On the page

Reliable transport was critical to the program's success.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more critical; superlative most critical when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, evaluation, qualification. Commonness: moderately common.