Critique

How to spell critique

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce critique

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does critique mean?

1. nounA detailed analysis and assessment of something, especially a piece of work or an idea.
2. verbTo evaluate something in a detailed and analytical way.

Critique in a sentence

• noun

  The editor wrote a thorough critique of the draft report.

• verb

  The professor asked us to critique each other's essays.

• noun

  Her critique of the marketing plan identified three weak points.

• verb

  She was hired to critique the company's hiring process.

Where does critique come from?

Language of origin: French

The word descends from the Greek kritike, the feminine of kritikos, meaning 'able to judge or discern', which in turn grew from krinein, the verb 'to separate, decide, or judge'. That same Greek root sits inside a whole family of English words, including critic, criticism, and crisis (a moment that demands a judgement). English took the modern form directly from French critique in the seventeenth century, where it served both as a noun for a reasoned assessment and, behind it, the adjective sense of 'critical'. The unusual -ique ending is the giveaway clue to its French passage: English kept the French spelling rather than reshaping it into something like 'critick', which is precisely why writers reach for the plainer-looking 'critic' or 'critik' by mistake. Over time the noun broadened from formal literary or artistic judgement to any careful evaluation, and the verb 'to critique' became common in the twentieth century.

How the word is built

• crit- (from Greek krit-: to judge, discern)
• -ique (French-derived noun/verb suffix, equivalent to -ic)