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PlainSpell

critic

/ˈkɹɪt.ɪk/noun

critic is spelled C-R-I-T-I-C: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “critic vs critique” about 720 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, critic means “A person who appraises the works of others” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of critic is critics.

How many letters and syllables are in critic?

Letters6: C-R-I-T-I-C
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is critic?

Critic appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce critic?

  • US /ˈkɹɪt.ɪk/

Critic has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-critic.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with critic

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

critic vs critique720 G

Also written: critique.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with critic?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as critic from its last stressed vowel (/ɪtɪk/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: citric.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of critic

  • critics plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • critick
  • criticking participle, present
  • criticked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does critic mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A person who appraises the works of others.

    Following its publication, the novel received widespread acclaim from literary critics.

  2. 2

    A specialist in judging works of art.

  3. 3

    One who criticizes; a person who finds fault.

  4. 4

    An opponent.

  5. 5

    obsoleteObsolete form of critique (“an act of criticism”).

  6. 6

    obsoleteObsolete form of critique (“the art of criticism”).

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo criticise.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Critic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcritique (person who appraises the works of others)
GermanKritiker (person who appraises the works of others), Kritikerin (specialist in judging works of art)
Portuguesecrítico (person who appraises the works of others), criticador (one who criticizes; a person who finds fault)
Spanishcrítico (person who appraises the works of others), criticastro, criticón, criticador (one who criticizes; a person who finds fault)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does critic come from?

Borrowed from Middle French critique, from Latin criticus, from Ancient Greek κριτικός (kritikós, “of or for judging, able to discern”), from κρίνω (krínō, “to judge”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after critic