Criticalness

crit·i·cal  (krt-kl)

adj.

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.

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criti·cal·ly adv.

criti·cal·ness n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

criticalness - a state of critical urgency criticality, cruciality urgency - the state of being urgent; an earnest and insistent necessity