Critic Definition

[n] someone who frequently finds fault or makes harsh and unfair judgments
[n] anyone who expresses a reasoned judgment of something
[n] a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art

See Also...

Allen Tate, appraiser, art critic, authenticator, carper, disagreeable person, drama critic, evaluator, grader, Granville-Barker, Harley Granville-Barker, John Orley Allen Tate, judge, literary critic, music critic, newspaper critic, niggler, nitpicker, panelist, panellist, professional, professional person, reader, referee, reviewer, roaster, sampler, taster, tastetester, Tate, theater critic, unpleasant person

Related Terms

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

Misc. Definitions

\Crit"ic\ (kr?t"?k), n. [L. criticus, Gr. ????, a critic; prop., an adj. meaning able to discuss, from ???? to judge, discern. See {Certain}, and cf. {Critique}.]
1. 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. 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.'' --Macaulay.
2. One who passes a rigorous or captious judgment; one who censures or finds fault; a harsh examiner or judge; a caviler; a carper. When an author has many beauties consistent with virtue, piety, and truth, let not little critics exalt themselves, and shower down their ill nature. --I. Watts. You know who the critics are? the men who have failed in literature and art. --Beaconsfield.
3. The art of criticism. [Obs.] --Locke.
4. An act of criticism; a critique. [Obs.] And make each day a critic on the last. --Pope.
\Crit"ic\, a. Of or pertaining to critics or criticism; critical. [Obs.] ``Critic learning.'' --Pope.
\Crit"ic\, v. i. [Cf. F. critiquer.] To criticise; to play the critic. [Obs.] Nay, if you begin to critic once, we shall never have done. --A. Brewer.