critique

1 of 2

noun

cri·tique krə-ˈtēk

kri-

: 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

True to form, the Family Research Council and their allies have decided to reframe the critique of their authoritarian political ideology as an attack on Christianity itself.

Katherine Stewart, The New Republic, 27 Oct. 2022 Yet Östlund falls back on the Marxist class critique that is the European Left’s favorite solution to everything — and the favorite delusion of the film-festival circuit.

Armond White, National Review, 26 Oct. 2022 Chinese leaders believe that internal critique of prior leaders and policies is what led to the Soviet Union collapse.

Christopher Marquis, Time, 14 Oct. 2022 The conservative critique is grounded mainly in a complaint about content bias.

Loren Thompson, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2022 The most immediate critique of this idea is that oil and semiconductors just aren’t directly comparable, said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, an international political economy fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations.

Mary Hui, Quartz, 3 Oct. 2022 The basic critique is compelling: core political rights and even the most popular laws exist at the mercy of five unelected justices insulated from accountability by life tenure and a salary that can’t be docked.

Ian Macdougall, Harper’s Magazine , 28 Sep. 2022 Asked about the critique that daily moments of silence detract from the power of silent moments more broadly, Ponder said that while the practice is understood by adults, such moments are less frequent for children.

Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Sep. 2022 The critique and feedback can be extremely helpful.

Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 7 Sep. 2022

Verb

But Eichner wants to have his rom-com cake and critique it too; the movies adheres to a Nora Ephron template but filters it through a Mattachine Society rewrite.

David Fear, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2022 In one scene, immediately before his shirtless fight, Durden and Edward Norton’s narrator critique a Gucci underwear ad on a bus, with Durden scoffing at the male models.

Brett Williams, Men's Health, 27 Sep. 2022 Lots of opportunities to critique an O-Line that starts several young players players.

Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 21 Sep. 2022 Whether Davis intended to critique the conventions of presidential iconography is hard to say.

Kelsey Ables, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2022 When practiced rigorously, narrative medicine can lead to the activism and advocacy necessary to critique—and fix—our health-care system.

The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2022 In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan made Friedman’s critique the policy of the U.S. government.

Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 8 Dec. 2021 There’s a lot to critique about the performance of Bryan Harsin’s squad, especially in the first half.

al, 11 Sep. 2022 No one who is happy with themselves has time to critique Lizzo.

Ariana Garcia, Chron, 29 Aug. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'critique.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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