critical

1 given to making or expressing unfavorable judgments about things adults tend to be critical of teenagers' taste in music and movies Synonyms captious, carping, caviling (or cavilling), faultfinding, hypercritical, judgmental, overcritical, rejective Related Words discerning, discriminating, judicious; demanding, exacting, fastidious, finical, finicky, fussy, nitpicky, particular, picky; pettifogging, quibbling; harsh, merciless, uncharitable, unforgiving Near Antonyms undiscriminating; undemanding, unfussy; charitable, forgiving Antonyms uncritical

2 needing immediate attention this problem isn't critical, so we can go home now and tend to it in the morning Synonyms burning, clamant, compelling, acute, crying, dire, emergent, exigent, imperative, imperious, importunate, instant, necessitous, pressing, urgentRelated Words demanding, extreme, immediate, insistent, intense, overriding; crucial, desperate, grave, life-and-death (also life-or-death), serious, severe, vital; dangerous, explosive, hazardous, perilous, precarious, unstableNear Antonyms incidental, low-pressure, minor, negligible, trivial, unimportant; nonthreatening, safe, stableAntonyms noncritical, nonurgent

3 of the greatest possible importance this is the critical exam that will largely determine your college career Synonyms crucial, key, pivotal, vitalRelated Words decisive, life-and-death (also life-or-death), weighty; basic, elementary, fundamental; essential, indispensable, necessary, requisite; pressing, urgentNear Antonyms inconsequential, insignificant, minor, trivial, unimportant

4 impossible to do without critical information for an informed medical diagnosis Synonyms all-important, essential, imperative, indispensable, integral, must-have, necessary, necessitous, needed, needful, required, requisite, vitalRelated Words prerequisite; compulsory, mandatory, nonelective, obligatory; consequential, crucial, important, major, material, meaningful, momentous, significant, substantial, weighty; basic, central, fundamental, key, organic; insistent, persistent, pressing, urgentNear Antonyms undesired, unwanted; inconsequential, insignificant, unimportant; excess, external, extra, extraneous, superfluous, surplusAntonyms dispensable, inessential, needless, nonessential, unessential, unnecessary, unneeded