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Radical vs Critical - What's the difference?

radical | critical |

As adjectives the difference between radical and critical

is that radical is favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter while critical is inclined to find fault or criticize; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.

As nouns the difference between radical and critical

is that radical is a member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism) while critical is a critical value, factor, etc.

radical

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.
  • His beliefs are radical .
  • (botany, not comparable) Pertaining to a root (of a plant).
  • Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.
  • * Burke
  • The most determined exertions of that authority, against them, only showed their radical independence.
  • Thoroughgoing.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
  • , author=Donald Worster , title=A Drier and Hotter Future , volume=100, issue=1, page=70 , magazine= citation , passage=Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.}}
    The spread of the cancer required radical surgery, and the entire organ was removed.
  • (linguistics, not comparable) Of or pertaining to the root of a word.
  • (linguistics, not comparable, of a sound) Produced using the root of the tongue.
  • (chemistry, not comparable) Involving free radicals.
  • (math) Relating to a radix or mathematical root.
  • a radical''' quantity; a '''radical sign
  • Excellent; awesome.
  • That was a radical jump!

    Derived terms

    * radicalness * radicality * radicalize * radically * radical empiricism * radical feminism * radical left * radical pluralism * radical reform * radical right * radical Islam * radical vinegar

    Synonyms

    * (pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something) fundamental

    Antonyms

    * (pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something) ignorable, trivial

    Coordinate terms

    * (produced with the root of the tongue) labial, coronal, dorsal, laryngeal

    Noun

    (en noun) (wikipedia radical)
  • A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).
  • A member of an influential, centrist political party favouring moderate social reform, a republican constitution, and secular politics.
  • A person with radical opinions.
  • (arithmetic) A root (of a number or quantity).
  • (linguistics) In logographic writing systems as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character (if any) that provides an indication of its meaning, as opposed to phonetic .
  • (linguistics) In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.
  • (chemistry) A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.
  • (organic chemistry) A free radical.
  • Derived terms

    * free radical * radical sign

    Anagrams

    * ----

    critical

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Inclined to find fault or criticize; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.
  • :
  • Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis or turning point.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability:it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.
  • Extremely important.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Katie L. Burke
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= In the News , passage=Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:
  • Relating to criticism or careful analysis, such as literary or film criticism.
  • :
  • (lb) Of a patient condition involving unstable vital signs and a prognosis that predicts the condition could worsen; or, a patient condition that requires urgent treatment in an intensive care or critical care medical facility.
  • :
  • Likely to go out of control if disturbed, that is, opposite of stable.
  • :
  • Of the point (in temperature, reagent concentration etc.) where a nuclear or chemical reaction becomes self-sustaining.
  • :
  • Derived terms

    {{der3, criticality , critically , criticalness , critical angle , critical mass , critical point , critical thinking , mission-critical , pseudocritical , supercritical}}

    See also

    * (wikipedia "critical") * (Medical state)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A critical value, factor, etc.
  • * 1976 , American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of engineering for industry (volume 98, page 508)
  • The second undamped system criticals show a greater percentage depression than the first.
  • * 2008 , John J. Coyle, C. John Langley, Brian Gibson, Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective (page 564)
  • Finally, criticals are high-risk, high-value items that give the final product a competitive advantage in the marketplace Criticals, in part, determine the customer's ultimate cost of using the finished product — in our example, the computer.