What does critically mean?
"Critically" is an adverb with several related senses, all rooted in the idea of judgment or decisive weight. Most broadly, it means doing something with careful, analytical evaluation: to read a text critically or examine an argument critically is to question its assumptions rather than accept it passively. A second major sense conveys crucial importance — a project may be critically dependent on funding — while a third expresses severe, potentially life-threatening gravity, as when a patient is described as critically ill. Finally, it often serves simply as an intensifier meaning "extremely," as in "critically important." The word derives from the Greek "kritikos," meaning able to discern or judge, via Latin and French. Its flexibility makes it valuable across registers: it appears in academic writing urging rigorous analysis, in journalism describing precarious situations, and in reviews where a work may be "critically acclaimed." Because its tone ranges from neutral appraisal to urgent alarm, context determines whether "critically" signals thoughtful scrutiny or serious peril.
adverbIn a way that involves careful judgment or evaluation; with critical analysis. Also, to a crucial or decisive degree — so seriously that something important is at stake.
- In a manner involving careful, analytical judgment or evaluation.
- To a crucial, decisive, or vitally important degree (e.g. critically dependent on).
- To a life-threatening or severely dangerous degree (e.g. critically ill, critically injured).
- Very; extremely (used to intensify adjectives, e.g. critically important).
"The committee examined the proposal critically before approving the funding."
"Students were taught to read scientific papers critically rather than accept every claim at face value."
"The rescue operation was critically dependent on good weather."
The same word that praises a film as 'critically acclaimed' also describes patients as 'critically ill' — few adverbs swing between applause and emergency.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of critically
"Critically" traces back to the Greek "kritikos," meaning skilled in judging or discerning, itself from "krinein," to separate or decide. The root passed into Latin as "criticus" and then into French as "critique" before entering English in the early modern period alongside the noun "critic." The adverb developed as English writers needed a term for judging or evaluating in the manner of a critic, and it later broadened to express decisive importance and grave severity. Cognates and relatives include "critic," "criticism," "critique," and even "hypocrite," which shares the underlying Greek root for judging.
Related word forms
How critically is actually used
Register is largely neutral but leans formal in academic contexts ('think critically') and clinical ones ('critically injured'). The evaluative sense carries no positive or negative charge by itself, while the severity sense ('critically ill') is strongly negative. In everyday speech, the intensifying sense ('critically important') is far more common than the analytical one.
Easily confused with critically
While both can mean 'to a vital degree', 'crucially' emphasizes importance alone, whereas 'critically' additionally carries senses of severe danger and of evaluative analysis.