criticality

noun

crit·​i·​cal·​i·​ty ˌkri-tə-ˈka-lə-tē 

: a critical quality, state, or nature

The true criticality of that basic political rationale is being demonstrated in the 1990s.

—Colin S. Gray

But the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, in a report released Tuesday, found that the list was not child's play: all these "unusual or out-of-place" sites "whose criticality is not readily apparent" are inexplicably included in the official federal antiterrorism database.

—Eric Lipton

specifically, physics : the state in which a mass of fissionable material sustains or is able to sustain a nuclear chain reaction

Criticality can be achieved by increasing mass (adding more plutonium) or … by compressing a barely subcritical mass to increase its density.

—Daniel J. Lenihan

How big is a critical mass? That depends on the proportion of fissile material and on its shape and configuration. Surrounding the mass with a neutron-reflecting substance further reduces the size needed for criticality, by returning neutrons that would otherwise escape.

—Richard Wolfson

Examples of criticality in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The criticality in being able to operate with agility, efficacy, and speed to stop breaches is having the data that controls and the actions in a single platform, not multiple platforms. —Zev Fima, CNBC, 3 Dec. 2025

The company plans to reach first criticality by July 4, 2026. —Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 24 Nov. 2025

There’s a difference between the type of criticality Valar reached this week—what’s known as cold criticality or zero-power criticality—and what’s needed to actually create nuclear power. —Molly Taft, Wired News, 17 Nov. 2025

To understand the criticality of cities’s role around economic prosperity, innovation, as well as cultural exchange. —Fortune Editors, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for criticality

• abnormality
• cardinality
• commonality
• communality
• cordiality
• corporeality
• criminality
• functionality
• generality
• geniality
• hospitality
• illegality