Word
critique
Phoneticscri·tique
US/kɹəˈtik/
UK/kɹɪtˈiːk/
Definitions
01a detailed review
n. a written or spoken report that looks closely at the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of work.
n. a detailed analysis and assessment of something, such as a literary work or a political theory. Countable in this sense.
“The professor gave me a helpful critique of my first essay.”
“The journal published a devastating critique of the government's economic policy, highlighting several structural flaws that had been previously ignored.”
Academic · Formal
Usage
Often takes the preposition 'of' before the subject being analyzed.
Synonyms
02to evaluate closely
v. to examine something carefully and give your opinion on its quality.
v. to examine and assess something in a detailed and analytical way. Transitive — takes a direct object.
“We spent the afternoon critiquing each other's paintings in the art studio.”
“The committee was tasked to critique the proposed architectural designs before the final budget was approved by the board.”
Academic · Formal
Pitfall
The teacher critiqued about my presentation.
The teacher critiqued my presentation.
Critique is a transitive verb; do not use 'about' after it.
Teaching tip
Learners often confuse 'critique' with 'criticize'. While 'criticize' often sounds negative, 'critique' is more neutral and suggests a professional or academic evaluation.
Real-World Examples
“There is a critique here of the stories that we have told ourselves about the snow leopard, an attempt to wrest it back from literary and metropolitan writers.” “The Belgian researchers submitted their critique to Nature in October 2023.” Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French critique, from New Latin critica (“critique”), feminine of criticus (“critical”); see critic.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/critique