critic

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: crit=ic

CIDE DICTIONARY

critic, n. [L. criticus, Gr. kritiko`s, a critic; prop., an adj. meaning able to discuss, from kri`nein to judge, discern. See Certain, and cf. Critique.].

•  One skilled in judging of the merits of literary or artistic works; a connoisseur; an adept; hence, one who examines literary or artistic works, etc., and passes judgment upon them; a reviewer.  [1913 Webster]

  "The opininon of the most skillful critics was, that nothing finer [than Goldsmith's “Traveler”] had appeared in verse since the fourth book of the “Dunciad.”"  [1913 Webster]
•  One who passes a rigorous or captious judgment; one who censures or finds fault; a harsh examiner or judge; a caviler; a carper.  [1913 Webster]

  "When an author has many beauties consistent with virtue, piety, and truth, let not little critics exalt themselves, and shower down their ill nature."  [1913 Webster]

  "You know who the critics are? the men who have failed in literature and art."  [1913 Webster]
•  The art of criticism.  Locke.  [1913 Webster]
•  An act of criticism; a critique.  [1913 Webster]

  "And make each day a critic on the last."  [1913 Webster]

critic, a. 

 Of or pertaining to critics or criticism; critical.  Pope.  [1913 Webster]

critic, v. i. [Cf. F. critiquer.].

 To criticise; to play the critic.  [1913 Webster]
"Nay, if you begin to critic once, we shall never have done."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

critic, n.
1 a person who censures.
2 a person who reviews or judges the merits of literary, artistic, or musical works etc., esp. regularly or professionally.
3 a person engaged in textual criticism.

Etymology

L criticus f. Gk kritikos f. krites judge f. krino judge, decide

DEVIL DICTIONARY

critic

n. A person who boasts himself hard to please because nobody tries to please him.

There is a land of pure delight,
Beyond the Jordan's flood,
Where saints, apparelled all in white,
Fling back the critic's mud.

And as he legs it through the skies,
His pelt a sable hue,
He sorrows sore to recognize
The missiles that he threw.
Orrin Goof

THESAURUS

critic

advertising writer, aficionado, allegorist, amateur, annalist, annotator, arbiter, arbiter elegantiarum, arbiter of taste, art critic, author, authoress, authority, belittler, belletrist, bibliographer, bon vivant, book reviewer, buff, captious, captious critic, carper, carping, caviler, caviling, censor, censorious, censurer, cicerone, clarifier, coauthor, cognoscente, collaborator, collector, columnist, commentator, commenter, common scold, compiler, complainer, composer, connaisseur, connoisseur, copywriter, creative writer, criticaster, criticizer, critickin, criticule, cryptanalyst, cryptographer, cryptologist, dance critic, decoder, definer, demonstrator, demythologizer, diarist, diaskeuast, dilettante, disparager, dragoman, drama critic, dramatist, editor, editorial writer, editorialist, emendator, emender, encyclopedist, epicure, epicurean, essayist, euhemerist, exegesist, exegete, exegetist, expert, explainer, explicator, exponent, expositor, expounder, fan, faultfinder, faultfinding, freak, free lance, free-lance writer, frondeur, ghost, ghostwriter, glossarist, glossographer, go-between, good judge, gourmand, gourmet, guide, hermeneut, humorist, hypercritical, inditer, interpreter, judge, knocker, leader writer, lexicographer, literary artist, literary craftsman, literary critic, literary man, litterateur, logographer, magazine writer, man of letters, maven, metaphrast, momus, monographer, muckraker, mudslinger, music critic, news analyst, newspaperman, nitpicker, novelettist, novelist, nut, oneirocritic, overcritical, pamphleteer, paraphrast, penwoman, pettifogger, poet, prose writer, publicist, pundit, quibbler, refined palate, reviewer, savant, scenario writer, scenarist, scholar, scholiast, scold, scribe, scriptwriter, short-story writer, smellfungus, social critic, specialist, storyteller, technical expert, technical writer, technician, textual critic, translator, virtuoso, word painter, wordsmith, writer

ROGET THESAURUS

critic

Dissertation

N dissertation, treatise, essay, thesis, theme, monograph, tract, tractate, tractation, discourse, memoir, disquisition, lecture, sermon, homily, pandect, excursus, commentary, review, critique, criticism, article, leader, leading article, editorial, running commentary, investigation, study, discussion, exposition, commentator, critic, essayist, pamphleteer, discursive, discoursive, disquisitionary, expository.

Taste

N taste, good taste, refined taste, cultivated taste, delicacy, refinement, fine feeling, gust, gusto, tact, finesse, nicety, to prepon, polish, elegance, grace, judgment, discernment, dilettantism, dilettanteism, virtu, fine art, culture, cultivation, aesthetics, man of taste, connoisseur, judge, critic, conoscente, virtuoso, amateur, dilettante, Aristarchus, Corinthian, arbiter elegantiarum, stagirite, euphemist, caviare to the general, in good taste, cute, tasteful, tasty, unaffected, pure, chaste, classical, attic, cultivated, refined, dainty, esthetic, aesthetic, artistic, elegant, euphemistic, to one's taste, to one's mind, after one's fancy, comme il faut, tire a quatre epingles, elegantly, nihil tetigit quod non ornavit, chacun a son gout, oculi pictura tenentur aures cantibus, taste, flavor, gust, gusto, savor, gout, relish, sapor, sapidity, twang, smack, smatch, aftertaste, tang, tasting, degustation, gustation, palate, tongue, tooth, stomach, sapid, saporific, gustable, gustatory, gustful, strong, gamy, palatable.

Detractor

N detractor, reprover, censor, censurer, cynic, critic, caviler, carper, word-catcher, frondeur, barracker, defamer, backbiter, slanderer, Sir Benjamin Backbite, lampooner, satirist, traducer, libeler, calumniator, dawplucker, Thersites, Zoilus, good-natured friend, reviler, vituperator, castigator, shrew, muckraker, disapprover, laudator temporis acti, black-mouthed, abusive.

Judgment

N judgment, result, conclusion, upshot, deduction, inference, ergotism, illation, corollary, porism, moral, estimation, valuation, appreciation, judication, dijudication, adjudication, arbitrament, arbitrement, arbitration, assessment, ponderation, valorization, award, estimate, review, criticism, critique, notice, report, decision, determination, judgment, finding, verdict, sentence, decree, findings of fact, findings of law, res judicata, plebiscite, voice, casting vote, vote, opinion, good judgment, judge, umpire, arbiter, arbitrator, asessor, referee, censor, reviewer, critic, connoisseur, commentator, inspector, inspecting officer, twenty-twenty hindsight, armchair general, monday morning quarterback, judging, judicious, determinate, conclusive, on the whole, all things considered, a Daniel come to judgment, and stand a critic, hated yet caress'd, it is much easier to be critical than to be correc, la critique est aisee et l'art est difficile, nothing if not critical, O most lame and impotent conclusion.