critical
/ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kəl/adjective, noun
critical is spelled C-R-I-T-I-C-A-L. The wrong spelling people search most is crtical: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 189 of all searches for the word. Critical is an adjective meaning “Inclined to find fault or criticize”.
How many letters and syllables are in critical?
| Letters | 8: C-R-I-T-I-C-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 68 times per million words; the 1,562nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, crtical, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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 do you spell critical?
Critical is spelled C-R-I-T-I-C-A-L. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 188 of the searches for critical in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is critical?
Critical appears 68 times per million words in written English, the 1,562nd 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 critical?
- UK /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kəl/
- US /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kəl/
- US [ˈkɹɪɾ.ɪ.kəl]
Critical has 3 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-critical.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with critical?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as critical from its last stressed vowel (/ɪtɪkəl/):
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 critical
- more critical comparative
- most critical superlative
- criticals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does critical mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Inclined to find fault or criticize.
A good teacher is fair but critical.
- 2
Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis or turning point.
This is a critical moment.
- 3
Extremely important.
It's critical that you deliver this on time.
- 4
Relating to criticism or careful analysis, such as literary or film criticism.
The movie was a critical success, but bombed at the box-office.
- 5
Employing or related to textual criticism, particularly through a stemmatological comparison of all extant texts and reconstruction of the original.
- 6
Of a patient condition involving unstable vital signs and a prognosis that predicts the condition could worsen; or, a patient condition that requires urgent treatment in an intensive care or critical care medical facility.
The patient's condition is critical.
- 7
In such a condition.
The patient is critical.
- 8
Likely to go out of control if disturbed, that is, opposite of stable.
The political situation was so critical that the government declared the state of siege.
noun
- 1
A critical value, factor, etc.
- 2
critical hit
- 3
In breakdancing, a kind of airflare move in which the dancer hops from one hand to the other.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Critical in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | critique |
| German | kritisch , entscheidend , wesentlich, wichtig |
| Portuguese | crítico |
| Spanish | crítico , álgido , clave, trascendental, coyuntural |
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.