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Critical vs. Exacting — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Critical and Exacting

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Definitions

Critical

Expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgements
I was very critical of the previous regime

Exacting

Making severe demands; rigorous
An exacting instructor.

Critical

Expressing or involving an analysis of the merits and faults of a work of literature, music, or art
She never won the critical acclaim she sought

Exacting

Requiring great care, effort, or attention
An exacting task.

Critical

(of a situation or problem) having the potential to become disastrous; at a point of crisis
The floodwaters had not receded and the situation was still critical
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Exacting

Making great demands; difficult to satisfy.

Critical

Relating to or denoting a point of transition from one state to another
If the density is less than a certain critical value the gravitational attraction will be too weak to halt the expansion

Exacting

(of an action, task, etc) Requiring precise accuracy, great care, effort, or attention.

Critical

(of a nuclear reactor or fuel) maintaining a self-sustaining chain reaction
The reactor is due to go critical in October

Exacting

(of a person or organization) Characterized by exaction.
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Critical

Judging severely and finding fault
A writer who is very critical of the government's foreign policy.

Exacting

Oppressive or unreasonably severe in making demands or requiring the exact fulfillment of obligations; harsh; severe.

Critical

Relating to or characterized by criticism; reflecting careful analysis and judgment
A critical appreciation of the filmmaker's work.

Exacting

Having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures;
Fastidious microorganisms
Certain highly specialized xerophytes are extremely exacting in their requirements

Critical

Of, relating to, or characteristic of critics
A play that received great critical acclaim.

Exacting

Severe and unremitting in making demands;
An exacting instructor
A stern disciplinarian
Strict standards

Critical

Including scholarly commentary and interpretation
A critical edition of Poe's stories.

Exacting

Requiring precise accuracy;
An exacting job
Became more exigent over his pronunciation

Critical

Forming or having the nature of a turning point; crucial or decisive
A critical point in the campaign.

Critical

(Medicine) Being or relating to a grave physical condition, especially of a patient.

Critical

Being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency
A critical shortage of food.

Critical

Extremely important or essential
A critical element of the plan.
A second income that is critical to the family's well-being.

Critical

(Mathematics) Of or relating to a point at which a curve has a horizontal tangent line, as at a maximum or minimum.

Critical

Chemistry & Physics Of or relating to the value of a measurement, such as temperature, at which an abrupt change in a quality, property, or state occurs
A critical temperature of water is 100°C, its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure.

Critical

(Physics) Capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction
The reactor has gone critical.

Critical

Inclined to find fault or criticize.
A good teacher is fair but critical.

Critical

Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis or turning point.
This is a critical moment.

Critical

Extremely important.
It's critical that you deliver this on time.

Critical

Relating to criticism or careful analysis, such as literary or film criticism.
The movie was a critical success, but bombed at the box-office.

Critical

(medicine) Of a patient condition involving unstable vital signs and a prognosis that predicts the condition could worsen; or, a patient condition that requires urgent treatment in an intensive care or critical care medical facility.
The patient's condition is critical.

Critical

Likely to go out of control if disturbed, that is, opposite of stable.
The political situation was so critical that the government declared the state of siege.

Critical

(physics) Of the point (in temperature, reagent concentration etc.) where a nuclear or chemical reaction becomes self-sustaining.
The reaction was about to become critical.

Critical

(physics) Of a temperature that is equal to the temperature of the critical point of a substance, i.e. the temperature above which the substance cannot be liquefied.

Critical

A critical value, factor, etc.

Critical

In breakdancing, a kind of airflare move in which the dancer hops from one hand to the other.

Critical

Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic productions.
It is submitted to the judgment of more critical ears to direct and determine what is graceful and what is not.

Critical

Pertaining to criticism or the critic's art; of the nature of a criticism; accurate; as, critical knowledge; a critical dissertation.

Critical

Inclined to make nice distinctions, or to exercise careful judgment and selection; exact; nicely judicious.
Virgil was so critical in the rites of religion, that he would never have brought in such prayers as these, if they had not been agreeable to the Roman customs.

Critical

Inclined to criticise or find fault; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.
O gentle lady, do not put me to 't,For I am nothing, if not critical.

Critical

Characterized by thoroughness and a reference to principles, as becomes a critic; as, a critical analysis of a subject.

Critical

Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis, turning point, or specially important juncture; important as regards consequences; hence, of doubtful issue; attended with risk; dangerous; as, the critical stage of a fever; a critical situation.
Our circumstances are indeed critical.
The small moment, the exact point, the critical minute, on which every good work so much depends.

Critical

Marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws;
A critical attitude

Critical

At or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction;
A critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure
Critical mass
Go critical

Critical

Characterized by careful evaluation and judgment;
A critical reading
A critical dissertation
A critical analysis of Melville's writings

Critical

Urgently needed; absolutely necessary;
A critical element of the plan
Critical medical supplies
Vital for a healthy society
Of vital interest

Critical

Forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis;
A critical point in the campaign
The critical test

Critical

Being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency;
A critical shortage of food
A critical illness
An illness at the critical stage

Critical

Of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism;
Critical acclaim

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