Critical vs. Exacting — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Critical and Exacting
ADVERTISEMENT
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
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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
