critique

1 of 2

noun

cri·tique krə-ˈtēk

kri-

Synonyms of critique next

: an act of criticizing

especially : a critical (see critical sense 1c) estimate or discussion

a critique of the poet's work

an honest critique of her art

critique

2 of 2

verb

critiqued; critiquing

transitive verb

: to examine critically : review

critique the plan

Did you know?

What’s the difference between criticism and critique? There’s some overlap in meaning, but they’re not the same in every situation. Criticism is most often used broadly to refer to the act of negatively criticizing someone or something (“I’m more interested in encouragement right now than criticism”) or a remark or comment that expresses disapproval (“She shared a minor criticism about the design”), while critique is a more formal word for a carefully expressed judgment, opinion, or evaluation of both the good and bad qualities of something—for example, books or movies. Thus, a critic can write a critique that may be full of criticism.

Example Sentences

Noun She wrote a radical critique of the philosopher's early essays. They gave a fair and honest critique of her art. Verb The class convened to critique the student's latest painting.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Report makes recommendations for next storm, commends Buffalo for progress Along with the critiques, the report also commended the city for various actions during the storm. —

Laura Ly, CNN, 2 June 2023 Broderick, who had already starred in a number of films and on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs and its sequel Biloxi Blues, was taken aback by Hughes’ harsh critiques. —

Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023 Ever since first appearing on MasterChef Australia as a judge in 2020, Melissa Leong has been praised by followers for her warm and relatable presence on-screen, her impressively diverse food knowledge, and her eloquent delivery of critiques when tasting contestants' dishes. —

Alicia Vrajlal, refinery29.com, 26 May 2023 Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid had one of the harsher critiques of the NFL's new kickoff rule. —

Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY, 25 May 2023 The gerontocracy critique also threatens to deprive us of our most experienced leaders. —

Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2023 DeSantis also said the U.S. shouldn’t interfere in the way Israel chooses to be governed, a direct critique of President Joe Biden, who has voiced concerns about a contentious Israeli government plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. —

Moshe Edri, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2023 You' Awarding Rare Perfect Scores, Season 25 Though he was known for his harsh critiques, Goodman wasn't afraid to give high praise and high scores when contestants were deserving. —

Zoey Lyttle, Peoplemag, 24 Apr. 2023 Don't take it as a critique of your company, but rather as reasons that made the winning shop the better choice to achieve success at this time/for this project. —

Laura Silver, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023

Verb

While secondary sales of equity during funding rounds were not uncommon at the time, investors and employees have critiqued the selloffs by executives during 2021, especially as venture capital funding—especially in the world of Web3—has slowed to a trickle in the past year. —

Ben Weiss, Fortune Crypto, 31 May 2023 Democrats critiqued the governor over the budget deal that did nothing to rein in the state's private school voucher program, and another volley of friendly fire came after Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have allowed more homemade foods, including tamales, to be sold commercially. —

Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 25 May 2023 State legislators who support the bill thought Uber's problems with the legislation were telling. Democratic state Sen. Robert Martwick, the chief Senate sponsor of the measure, critiqued the reasoning Uber gave in the letter. —

Rachel Schilke, Washington Examiner, 11 May 2023 In another, the chef Roy Choi critiqued Ms. Choi’s grandmother’s kimchi recipe. —

Callie Holtermann, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2023 From its inception, hip hop critiqued dominant structures and cultural narratives and offered new avenues for expressing diasporic experiences and creating alternate systems of power, leading to a fifth pillar of social and political consciousness and knowledge-building. —

Chadd Scott, Forbes, 19 Apr. 2023 The fact that there is so little overlap between Republican and Democrat critiques in the wake of SVB’s collapse illuminates the challenging road ahead for bipartisan policy solutions to avert a future similar failure. —

Lanhee J. Chen, CNN, 19 Mar. 2023 The mother-daughter duo have been the faces of Italian lingerie label Intimissimi for nearly a year, despite some social-media blowback critiquing the two for appearing together in their skivvies. —

Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2023 China has tried to maintain a balancing act by positioning itself as neutral on Ukraine and has refrained from critiquing Russia for starting the war. —

Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'critique.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French, borrowed from Latin critica "evaluation of literary works," borrowed from Greek kritikḗ noun derivative from feminine of kritikós "discerning, capable of judging" — more at critic entry 1

Verb

derivative of critique entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1679, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1752, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of critique was in 1679

See more words from the same year