adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a critical analysis (=that makes judgements about how good or bad something is)
▪ Write a critical analysis of the following poem.
a critical comment
▪ The school has received critical comments from inspectors.
a critical essay (=one that judges how good a book, writer etc is)
▪ The anthology contains critical essays by Kael, Graham Greene and others.
a critical/crucial moment (=a very important moment)
▪ This was a critical moment in the country’s history.
a critical/crucial stage (=very important because it affects the future success of something)
▪ The football season is reaching a crucial stage.
a crucial/critical element (=extremely important and necessary)
▪ The most crucial element of our economic system is the law of supply and demand.
cast a critical/expert etc eye
▪ Tonight, Tim Goodman casts a cynical eye on TV ads.
critical acclaim (=praise by people who are paid to give their opinion on art, music etc)
▪ The young singer is enjoying critical acclaim .
critical juncture (=very important point)
▪ The talks are at a critical juncture.
critical mass
▪ How can we get a critical mass of people involved to keep the club running?
critical path
▪ Costs can be calculated once the critical path has been established.
critical scrutiny (=when something is examined and judged or criticized)
▪ Their work is in the public domain and open to critical scrutiny.
critical thinking (=when you make careful judgments about how good or bad something is)
▪ Rudi wanted them to practice critical thinking by analysing the world they lived in.
critical (=showing you disagree with or disapprove of someone or something)
▪ People’s attitude towards US foreign policy has become increasingly critical.
openly critical
▪ He was openly critical of his colleagues.
vital/crucial/critical importance (=very great )
▪ This research is of vital importance.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
absolutely
▪ Section 58 is not quite as absolutely critical as that case had suggested.
▪ We already keep under review financial contributions to the support group, because clearing the arrears to the IFIs is absolutely critical.
▪ Their work was absolutely critical to the mission of the company.
as
▪ A spokeswoman for Chepstow Hospital described Mr Haigh's condition as critical but stable last night.
▪ Dietz pointed to testimony by a psychiatrist who examined Davis after his three-county rampage in 1976 as critical in the case.
▪ Not dissimilar from the system known as critical path analysis, the approach envisaged should show a time-scale allocation against each task.
▪ By the end of the year, however, they identified listening too as critical.
▪ He was flown back to Britain by air ambulance and his condition last night was described as critical.
▪ We may project the values we use ourselves on to other people - imagining that they are as critical as we are.
▪ All were rooted in the nineteenth-century stance of the artist as critical outsider, disdainful of the niceties of the bourgeoisie.
highly
▪ The majority were favourably disposed, some were ambivalent and a few highly critical of the messages and their style.
▪ Most Neo-Confucianists professed, as did Ricci, a highly critical attitude toward Buddhism.
▪ The conductor was highly critical about her performance and Nilsson ended up a very unhappy soprano.
▪ Dole has been highly critical of organized labor this year, especially an expensive union ad campaign waged against Republicans.
▪ Feminists, for example, are highly critical of some family therapists.
▪ They were highly critical of leaders who acted in despotic, feudalistic and corrupt ways.
▪ There has recently been some highly critical re-assessment of the claims initially made by ape language experimenters on behalf of their subjects.
▪ He was highly critical of the use of private houses for Government Offices.
more
▪ Imagine how much more critical performance will be for industrial-strength applications involving multiple linked files with customized applications on top.
▪ At the same time I started approvals to move a fire hydrant, which is even more critical.
▪ Other women, especially some Black women, were more critical.
▪ His comments made for painful reading, but Shawn was even more critical.
▪ Two independent Sri Lankan monitoring groups were far more critical.
▪ All this happens as the child is gradually subjected to ever more critical attitudes as he is being socialized.
▪ Mud on the ball is an even more critical problem when chipping and putting.
▪ Some even ventured that the latter were more critical.
most
▪ The early stages are the most critical in achieving high environmental standards and safe operation.
▪ Thy to understand which of the dimensions of performance set forth in the chart on page 90 are most critical.
▪ Consider the sizing Of all the factors a watercolourist must consider when selecting paper, sizing is perhaps the most critical.
▪ Often, the first and most critical step in creating a Great Group is recruiting.
▪ With his own progress, Romanowski is possibly at his most critical.
▪ I remember feeling complimented that he would let me take control at the most critical part of the flight.
▪ In fact, human workers still occupy the most critical jobs - those where judgment and evaluation are essential.
▪ Defining your mission statement is the most critical first step in planning for your success.
openly
▪ He had been openly critical of his own archbishop's defence of discrimination against homosexuals in church employment.
▪ Moores was openly critical of task force members who did not attend.
▪ However, the educational team took a more openly critical view of the community development process and the philosophy underlying it.
particularly
▪ It therefore rejected empiricism and was particularly critical of utilitarianism.
▪ He was particularly critical Friday of Sen.
▪ Since a fast cruise is not essential in the training market, this is not particularly critical, nor is the range.
▪ One communique was particularly critical of Fox.
▪ Ballymena man Erwin was furious about the lack of commitment - and was particularly critical of the defence.
▪ Such support is particularly critical to the minority communities.
▪ Questions relating to data integration emerge as being particularly critical in terms of environmental monitoring and settlement and infrastructure applications.
▪ Placement of the bass module is particularly critical.
so
▪ I was so sure I knew what was right, so critical of other people.
▪ So why was tiny New Hampshire so critical?
▪ So the cross-section of the line is not so critical for the average sport kite.
▪ Their policies were riddled with the logical absurdities on pricing of which Gaitskell had earlier been so critical.
▪ Which is why the current stretch, with 11 of 15 at home, is so critical.
▪ The situation is now so critical that the very structure that is needed to use the aid effectively has disintegrated.
very
▪ However, chairman Eugene Andersen said that the company was still at a very critical stage.
▪ That brings us to the very critical question of the balance of power at the end of all this.
▪ Under these conditions the pitch setting becomes very critical.
▪ There are reports from communities in the south of the country that the situation is very, very critical.
▪ The exact positions are very critical and results depend very much on exactly where the ends are held.
▪ The students who had done the teaching were very critical of the own efforts.
▪ The fire brigade were very critical of the water pressure available to them in fighting this hilltop fire.
▪ The question whether one had a naval involvement or access to the intervention fund was very critical indeed.
■ NOUN
acclaim
▪ Lamboume's work is not widely known today, yet during the 1950S he received great critical acclaim.
▪ Such success stories do not rely on good reviews or critical acclaim for big sales and widespread popularity.
▪ Between 1907 and 1942 Freeman produced forty Thorndyke short stories and twenty-one Thorndyke novels, to great critical acclaim.
▪ Paulo has received critical acclaim for his pop-jazz.
▪ Voice over Their show at the Pegassus Theatre in Oxford brought much critical acclaim.
▪ Buoyed by critical acclaim for the 1970 Brooklyn season, Alvin and his dancers faced a year without any significant employment.
▪ Chris Menges' directorial debut which received critical acclaim and festival awards throughout the world.
analysis
▪ In some cultures, critical analysis of texts is relatively unknown and may, indeed, be thought offensive.
▪ Professional employees should concentrate on working relationships and attempt to stay away from a critical analysis of personalities.
▪ There is also a critical analysis of the paper Religious and Moral Education 5-14 by.
▪ The critical analysis of local and central government performance by the project teams further precipitated the demise of the program.
▪ It is also useful to carry out your own critical analysis of an essay you have completed.
▪ And yet Roosevelt was not spared the lash of critical analysis.
▪ When the research is carried out by academics from outside, critical analysis creates enormous tensions.
▪ By doing so you will begin that vital process of critical analysis and revision at an early stage.
comment
▪ Bains quoted with approval the critical comments of the management consultants, McKinsey and Co.
▪ In Section 1.2 some critical comments were made of conventional systems analysis.
▪ There is, however, plenty of critical comment outside these works.
▪ Auction catalogues do not carry critical comments on individual items for sale, but there are sometimes introductions with criticism.
▪ The author gives useful critical comment on many of the ideas discussed.
▪ He thumbed through the applications in a knowledgeable manner and made critical comments in imitation of his superiors.
▪ The visual material generated an enormous amount of interest and critical comment.
condition
▪ His twin brother, who was airlifted to hospital with him, is in a critical condition.
▪ The next day, Easley was admitted to a local hospital in critical condition.
▪ Dozens of people were injured and at least 13 were in critical condition last night.
▪ Two of the wounded are in critical condition, hospital officials said.
▪ Two of the burns victims were in a critical condition last night.
▪ The three most seriously injured children were still in critical condition.
▪ He was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
examination
▪ But the defeat of Labour in the latter year led, as usual, to a critical examination of conscience and record.
▪ Feminist strategies and campaigns in these different fields are submitted to critical examination.
▪ This is a critical examination, together with budget holders, of performance against budget for all the Society's activities.
▪ These procedures will all be subject to a further critical examination when the Phase 2 validation is completed.
▪ Many different theoretical approaches have been developed, and no area of phonology has been free from critical examination.
▪ Everything discussed received excellent critical examination.
▪ Its implication that information, experience, and feelings presented in a pictorial form are readily and immediately accessible needs critical examination.
eye
▪ We will turn a more critical eye to the assumptions and propositions of this model in the final part of this chapter.
▪ He stopped on the top stair and with a critical eye surveyed the neighbor-hood.
▪ Ablaze with fiery emotions, Meredith walked self-consciously to the bathroom under Lucenzo's critical eyes.
▪ They would be able to read with a critical eye and thus speak and write with more authority.
▪ The ability to keep an eye on oneself-a critical eye, at that - is the taken-for-granted sinequanon of a higher education.
▪ The critical eye which had stared so at Frank had closed and I was happy.
▪ The seneschal stopped, looking at the work being done with a critical eye.
▪ If only he'd finished his new masterpiece before he'd submitted it to her critical eye.
factor
▪ Three critical factors are involved in all working relationships. 1.
▪ Research seems to indicate that how parents manage the divorce process is the critical factor for children rather than the divorce perse.
▪ Job security is a critical factor for many people.
▪ A critical factor appears to be the enhanced influx of external calcium which is taken up by the stores with two consequences.
▪ Alternatively, dictatorship might be better defined by the absence of a limited mandate-a critical factor in our definition of democracy.
▪ The critical factors in determining the growth in the present study are all external; none are intrinsic to the science itself.
▪ And within a few years after Keynes, the level of production became the critical factor in war mobilization.
importance
▪ Estimating the future rate of energy growth is of critical importance for predicting future concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
▪ The effect of these changes in world geopolitics and economics are of critical importance.
▪ At this stage the precise form of the household's relation to its property is of critical importance.
▪ Of critical importance is that the studio continues to attract gifted animators.
▪ This view is in complete contrast to those who maintain that environmental deterioration is widespread and of critical importance.
▪ And the objectives involved are of critical importance.
▪ A further problem arises from the fact that the experimental results of critical importance are far from clear-cut.
▪ Honda understands those cost-versus-value trade-offs, and the critical importance of the quality mindset.
issue
▪ He earned this disputable title by his thoughtful approach to critical issues and the undeniable distinction of his critical practice.
▪ Here the critical issue is the number of interconnections that can be processed per second.
▪ As we shall see later, the ongoing health of children in Seascale has become a critical issue for the nuclear industry.
▪ Hardly ever, except perhaps when focusing on especially contentious and critical issues.
▪ Patients whose ability to take medicines is a critical issue could be encouraged to use the same community pharmacy on each occasion.
▪ This Summit meeting was supposed to solve critical issues facing the Lakers and Houston Rockets.
▪ It became extraordinarily difficult for them to speak with one voice on critical issues.
▪ Bingo said the critical issue for him was that Geoff have qualified replacement coaches.
juncture
▪ While this must remain conjecture, it should be remembered that 1949 was a critical juncture.
▪ The war was at such a critical juncture that some weeks was too long.
▪ At each critical juncture an assessment should be made regarding the correct dose, correct equipment, product activity etc.
▪ Incumbents and candidates alike see this as a critical juncture in the history of the district.
mass
▪ Analyzing each of the members of the critical mass with regard to readiness and capability.
▪ But from 1992 until today a critical mass of the people and teams at Magma Metals have delivered unprecedented performance and change.
▪ He was practically laughing out loud as Ali reached critical mass.
▪ Soon a critical mass of investment was achieved, a pattern established and documented.
▪ Some 1950 million years ago, sufficient uranium was precipitated from solutions in the rocks at Oklo to reach critical mass.
▪ But that makes it hard to achieve the critical mass on the school side that would justify changes in curriculum and scheduling.
▪ The trick is getting a critical mass of corporations and consumers to use electronic mechanisms.
moment
▪ Every man has moved into position and must remain silent and unobserved until the critical moment.
▪ Others were asleep during the critical moments of the parley.
▪ The critical moment for harvest varies from year to year and from one plant to the next.
▪ Alexander was startled at having been given so much discretion at this critical moment in the battle.
▪ Moreover, at the critical moment at least one of the mines failed to go off.
▪ At this critical moment the Brooklyn halted and began backing and signaling....
▪ If pushed too hard at this critical moment he could impose emergency rule and provoke far greater strife.
▪ At Golden Park, the pattern broke at a critical moment.
path
▪ The critical path through the network is the longest sequence of activities from the beginning of the network through to the end.
▪ In drawing up networks, estimating times and identifying critical paths, a number of rules and conventions have to be applied.
▪ Not dissimilar from the system known as critical path analysis, the approach envisaged should show a time-scale allocation against each task.
▪ The thing reportedly couldn't find its critical paths and gave off false signals that everything was hunky-dory when it wasn't.
▪ The planning, however, is done on the Gantt chart with the critical path clearly shown by colour or shading.
▪ The optimum linking of the various stages is called the critical path.
▪ They can also be utilised in programming work including network analysis and critical path.
▪ Sophisticated software already exists at moderate cost to effectively undertake critical path analyses.
period
▪ When we turn to human development there is even more doubt about the usefulness of the critical period concept.
▪ What about critical periods for the chimps that have been learning sign language?
▪ Sensitive counselling at critical periods can help greatly too.
▪ For the duchy of Savoy the reign of Victor Amadeus marks a critical period of historical development.
▪ In patients with this type of depression, their critical period is advanced so that it falls during sleep.
▪ However, there is a third fish found in the deposits of that early and critical period.
▪ It is gratifying to be able to report that our membership throughout the country has held steady in this critical period.
point
▪ The critical point is the effect of depth on illumination, which affects the photosynthetic activity of symbiotic algae.
▪ The critical point, where gravity becomes so strong that escape is impossible, is called the event horizon.
▪ In fact the lower critical point corresponds fairly closely to the lower exposure bound discussed later.
▪ Then, just prior to that critical point, introduce the aversion relief element.
▪ I think the critical point is how much he has lost in pace and whether those other attributes are in decline.
▪ They concede that while the fall in the pound will push up inflation, the critical point is by how much.
▪ When the critical point was reached in mid-1941, he acted quickly to turn down the heat.
▪ One of the critical points of construction came when the new wing was connected with the main body of the hospital.
question
▪ The critical question as to whether Martin introduced the design of the three-piece Baroque flute may now be considered.
▪ The critical questions such a strategy needs to answer include: What policies to adopt?
▪ In the grand scheme of life, the critical question is how do we negotiate this so that nobody is damaged.
▪ That brings us to the very critical question of the balance of power at the end of all this.
▪ Staff and participants involved in them are now asking critical questions about the future of such projects.
▪ However, the critical questions are specific to the particular ad, and they are the ones that really matter.
▪ We are not asking critical questions about Learning.
remark
▪ One sees what causes the unkind critical remarks about Boy's Own and Billy Bunter.
▪ Can a teacher sue a principal for slander for making critical remarks about his or her teaching techniques?
role
▪ Margaret Bondfield joined the guild in 1911 and with Llewellyn Davies assumed a critical role in reform of health and maternity policy.
▪ Direct mail pieces play a critical role in marketing campaigns.
▪ The idea of democracy played a critical role in Dewey's philosophy.
▪ Leigh, who plays the critical role, inhabits the part.
▪ As late as the succession crisis of 1682 patriarch Joachim played a critical role and even briefly acted as Regent.
▪ Here on the tongue, ion channels play a critical role in our sense of taste.
▪ The critical role here belonged to the Social Democratic party.
stage
▪ However, chairman Eugene Andersen said that the company was still at a very critical stage.
▪ Without him at this critical stage, the Mideast peace process might collapse.
▪ The critical stage would be when he lowered his undercarriage.
▪ Negotiations between the National Trust and MoD have been taking place for two years and have reached a critical stage.
▪ The pilot should always be prepared for an unexpected power failure during this critical stage of the launch.
▪ This politicization of de Gaulle's message was a critical stage in the evolution towards a unified resistance.
▪ This is a critical stage of the operation, Sabrina.
success
▪ Merchant's companies do not seem to distinguish between key result areas and critical success factors.
▪ And, when the time for your evaluation arrives, make sure that these critical successes are documented in writing.
▪ Its management decided to start from first principles by developing critical success factors.
▪ The River was an enormous and immediate popular and critical success.
▪ The information must be matched to the business's objectives and critical success factors.
▪ The critical success factor for matching opportunities and core competences is one of having widely shared information within the firm.
theory
▪ This is that critical theory offers an aesthetic evaluation of works of art.
▪ So would you if you left graduate school in the recession year of 1991 with a degree in something called critical theory.
▪ This brings us to an approach recently fashionable in critical theory and denoted by the term deconstruction.
▪ This stricture is one that has been variously repeated in a large number of literary and critical theories in this century.
▪ Furthermore, critical theory departs form positivism in understanding the facts of culture in terms of a social totality.
▪ Thus, the relationship of critical theory to postmodernism and poststructuralism is indeed a far more complex matter than is commonly assumed.
▪ It was left to Jürgen Habermas to establish a more comprehensive account of the basis of critical theory.
time
▪ However, it may be helpful to adjust the dose at the critical time.
▪ The critical time specifies the target time by which the process or outcome should be achieved.
▪ At such a critical time Aldfrith would surely have returned to Northumbria with all speed.
▪ For example, the critical time for nutrition assessment may be the initial visit.
▪ It's a critical time to be abandoning the plot.
▪ Their report of October 1988 concludes that the present is a critical time to establish such a center.
▪ Unfortunately the music electronics contribution hit a slump at the critical time and was unable to meet expectations.
▪ It represents a major adjustment at a critical time.
value
▪ At the 5 percent significance level the critical value of chi-square is 15.5.
▪ A brittle material breaks suddenly, rather than deforming smoothly, when forced beyond a critical value.
▪ Discrete sedimentation events are predicted each time the concentration exceeds the critical value.
▪ The temperature at which this critical value is reached is the glass transition temperature.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Critical remarks by a teacher can damage the confidence of children.
▪ Eight people were killed and four are still in a critical condition.
▪ Stan is at a critical stage in his recovery from the accident.
▪ The article is a critical analysis of Faulkner's novels.
▪ The government has just published a highly critical report on the state of the education system.
▪ The next few months could be critical for the whole mining industry.
▪ The situation is said to be critical and the army has been brought in to disperse the mob.
▪ These accusations came at a critical phase in the negotiations.
▪ Things are now critical. Hospitals have no medicine, and people are running out of food.
▪ We need an immediate decision on this critical issue.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And within a few years after Keynes, the level of production became the critical factor in war mobilization.
▪ But as an activist, I knew how critical her work was.
▪ How did he survive such a critical wound?
▪ It therefore rejected empiricism and was particularly critical of utilitarianism.
▪ Shortening product life cycles and rapid product proliferation mean that investment in innovation is critical in global competition.
▪ The density of the landfall was critical to calculating at what moment the dam would capitulate.
▪ The policies which are adopted are important, but the means by which they are implemented will be critical to their effectiveness.