critic

[krit-ik]

noun

1. a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes.

   a poor critic of men.

2. a person who judges, evaluates, or analyzes literary or artistic works, dramatic or musical performances, or the like, especially for a newspaper or magazine.

   Synonyms: judge, reviewer

3. a person who tends too readily to make captious, trivial, or harsh judgments; faultfinder.

   Synonyms: carper, censurer

4. Archaic.

   1. criticism.

   2. critique.

critic

/ ˈkrɪtɪk /

noun

1. a person who judges something

2. a professional judge of art, music, literature, etc

3. a person who often finds fault and criticizes

Other Word Forms

• supercritic noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of critic¹

1575–85; < Latin criticus < Greek kritikós skilled in judging (adj.), critic (noun), equivalent to krī́t ( ēs ) judge, umpire ( krī́ ( nein ) to separate, decide + -tēs agent suffix) + -ikos -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of critic¹

C16: from Latin criticus, from Greek kritikos capable of judging, from kritēs judge; see _criterion

Example Sentences

No person, be they an American president or a civilian critic, could make Oliphant put down his pen — though it wasn’t for lack of trying.

From Salon

Gogglebox will welcome a raft of new faces when it returns with an expanded cast of couch-based TV critics on Friday.

From BBC

Our critics discuss how ‘The Paper’ compares to ‘The Office,’ whether the show captures the current state of journalism and, of course, whether or not it’s funny.

From Los Angeles Times

Public health experts raised concerns about the qualifications of the members - several of whom are vaccine critics - appointed in their place.

From BBC

Hollywood Reporter critic Sheri Linden noted how the "gripping drama delves into a notorious Gaza event with heart-wrenching urgency".

From BBC

Related Words

• authority 
• cartoonist www.thesaurus.com
• commentator 
• expert 
• judge 
• pundit 
• reviewer