critic

American  

[krit-ik] / ˈkrɪt ɪk /

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.

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critic British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• supercritic noun

Etymology

Origin of critic

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

Explanation

A critic is someone who finds fault with something and expresses an unfavorable opinion. You might be a critic of your school’s new plan to start the school day at 6:30 a.m. The word critic came into English by way of Latin, tracing back to the Greek word krinein, meaning “judge, decide.” If you’re a critic, you’re essentially judging something — and finding it lacking. Critic can be used broadly to describe any person expressing an unfavorable view, but there are professional critics as well, such as people who review movies or music. In that sense, the word describes someone who thoughtfully assesses something, either favorably or negatively.

Example Sentences

In a wide-ranging interview with architecture critic Sam Lubell, Peter Zumthor talks about the evolution of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries, how L.A. changed his practice, and why certain criticisms of the building are overblown.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

The New York Times cut ties with a freelance book critic who admitted that an A.I. editing tool had regurgitated passages from a Guardian article into his draft.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026

Grant has been a well-established critic of the Fed’s propensity to tolerate inflation for some time and in particular he condemns the purchasing power that has been lost since 2020, because of the Fed’s policies.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

The new record appeared to be following suit, with The Daily Telegraph's chief music critic Neil McCormick saying the band were "back with a pile-driving blues stomp".

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

The following day, social critic and sociologist Michael Eric Dyson published a critique of Obama’s speech in Time magazine.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• authority
• cartoonist
• commentator
• expert
• judge
• pundit
• reviewer