Adjacent Words

Critic definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CRITIC, n. [Gr., a judge or discerner, to judge, to separate, to distinguish. See Crime.]
1. A person skilled in judging of the merit of literary works; one who is able to discern and distinguish the beauties and faults of writing. In a more general sense, a person skilled in judging with propriety of any combination of objects, or of any work of art; and particularly of what are denominated the Fine Arts. A critic is one who, from experience, knowledge, habit or taste, can perceive the difference between propriety and impropriety, in objects or works presented to his view; between the natural and unnatural; the high and the low, or lofty and mean; the congruous and incongruous; the correct and incorrect, according to the established rules of the art.
2. An examiner; a judge.
And make each day a critic on the last.
3. One who judges with severity; one who censures or finds fault.
CRITIC, a. Critical; relating to criticism, or the art of judging of the merit of a literary performance or discourse, or of any work in the fine arts. [See Critical.]
CRITIC, v.i. To criticise; to play the critic. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art
2: anyone who expresses a reasoned judgment of something
3: someone who frequently finds fault or makes harsh and unfair judgments

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Latin criticus, from Greek kritikos, from kritikos able to discern or judge, from krinein Date: 1588 1. a. one who expresses a reasoned opinion on any matter especially involving a judgment of its value, truth, righteousness, beauty, or technique b. one who engages often professionally in the analysis, evaluation, or appreciation of works of art or artistic performances 2. one given to harsh or captious judgment II. noun Etymology: Greek kritik? art of the critic, from feminine of kritikos Date: 1651 1. archaic criticism 2. archaic critique

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a person who censures. 2 a person who reviews or judges the merits of literary, artistic, or musical works etc., esp. regularly or professionally. 3 a person engaged in textual criticism. Etymology: L criticus f. Gk kritikos f. krites judge f. krino judge, decide

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Critic Crit"ic (kr?t"?k), n. [L. criticus, Gr. ????, a critic; prop., an adj. meaning able to discuss, from ???? to judge, discern. See Certain, and cf. Critique.] 1. One skilled in judging of the merits of literary or artistic works; a connoisseur; an adept; hence, one who examines literary or artistic works, etc., and passes judgment upon them; a reviewer. The opininon of the most skillful critics was, that nothing finer [than Goldsmith's ``Traveler''] had appeared in verse since the fourth book of the ``Dunciad.'' --Macaulay. 2. One who passes a rigorous or captious judgment; one who censures or finds fault; a harsh examiner or judge; a caviler; a carper. When an author has many beauties consistent with virtue, piety, and truth, let not little critics exalt themselves, and shower down their ill nature. --I. Watts. You know who the critics are? the men who have failed in literature and art. --Beaconsfield. 3. The art of criticism. [Obs.] --Locke. 4. An act of criticism; a critique. [Obs.] And make each day a critic on the last. --Pope.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Critic Crit"ic, a. Of or pertaining to critics or criticism; critical. [Obs.] ``Critic learning.'' --Pope.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Critic Crit"ic, v. i. [Cf. F. critiquer.] To criticise; to play the critic. [Obs.] Nay, if you begin to critic once, we shall never have done. --A. Brewer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Critique Cri*tique" (kr?-t?k"), n. [F. critique, f., fr. Gr. ???? (sc. ????) the critical art, from ?????. See Critic.] 1. The art of criticism. [Written also critic.] [R.] 2. A critical examination or estimate of a work of literature or art; a critical dissertation or essay; a careful and through analysis of any subject; a criticism; as, Kant's ``Critique of Pure Reason.'' I should as soon expect to see a critique on the poesy of a ring as on the inscription of a medal. --Addison. 3. A critic; one who criticises. [Obs.] A question among critiques in the ages to come. --Bp. Lincoln.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(critics) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A critic is a person who writes about and expresses opinions about things such as books, films, music, or art. The New York critics had praised her performance. = reviewer N-COUNT: oft n N 2. Someone who is a critic of a person or system disapproves of them and criticizes them publicly. Her critics accused her of caring only about success. N-COUNT: usu with poss

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Reviewer, censor, connoisseur, judge, (of artistic merit). 2. Censurer, caviller, carper.

Foolish Dictionary

A wet blanket that soaks everything it touches.

Moby Thesaurus

advertising writer, aficionado, allegorist, amateur, annalist, annotator, arbiter, arbiter elegantiarum, arbiter of taste, art critic, author, authoress, authority, belittler, belletrist, bibliographer, bon vivant, book reviewer, buff, captious, captious critic, carper, carping, caviler, caviling, censor, censorious, censurer, cicerone, clarifier, coauthor, cognoscente, collaborator, collector, columnist, commentator, commenter, common scold, compiler, complainer, composer, connaisseur, connoisseur, copywriter, creative writer, criticaster, criticizer, critickin, criticule, cryptanalyst, cryptographer, cryptologist, dance critic, decoder, definer, demonstrator, demythologizer, diarist, diaskeuast, dilettante, disparager, dragoman, drama critic, dramatist, editor, editorial writer, editorialist, emendator, emender, encyclopedist, epicure, epicurean, essayist, euhemerist, exegesist, exegete, exegetist, expert, explainer, explicator, exponent, expositor, expounder, fan, faultfinder, faultfinding, freak, free lance, free-lance writer, frondeur, ghost, ghostwriter, glossarist, glossographer, go-between, good judge, gourmand, gourmet, guide, hermeneut, humorist, hypercritical, inditer, interpreter, judge, knocker, leader writer, lexicographer, literary artist, literary craftsman, literary critic, literary man, litterateur, logographer, magazine writer, man of letters, maven, metaphrast, momus, monographer, muckraker, mudslinger, music critic, news analyst, newspaperman, nitpicker, novelettist, novelist, nut, oneirocritic, overcritical, pamphleteer, paraphrast, penwoman, pettifogger, poet, prose writer, publicist, pundit, quibbler, refined palate, reviewer, savant, scenario writer, scenarist, scholar, scholiast, scold, scribe, scriptwriter, short-story writer, smellfungus, social critic, specialist, storyteller, technical expert, technical writer, technician, textual critic, translator, virtuoso, word painter, wordsmith, writer