critical thinking oxford english dictionary

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Meaning of critical thinking in English

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• adjudication
• interpretable
• interpretive
• interpretively
• reinterpretation
• reinvestigate
• reinvestigation
• risk assessment

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a plan or method that you use if another one fails, or is likely to fail

Cringeworthy and toe-curling (The language of embarrassment)

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What is Critical Thinking?

7 steps to critical thinking, books in the collection.

• Synthesizing Information
• Entering the Conversation
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The Oxford English Dictionary defines critical thinking as "the objective, systematic, and rational analysis and evaluation of factual evidence in order to form a judgement on a subject, issue, etc."

Put simply, critical thinking is the ability to recognize and examine information to understand the evidence, arguments, and perspectives present in that information. Critical thinking means seeking answers and asking questions.

• TED-Ed Can You Solve This Riddle? (playlist) Try out some of the classic riddles in this playlist from TED Ed. Each video established the riddle with narration and animation. Use your critical thinking skills to solve the riddles!

The following seven steps, developed by Kraus et al., are meant to illustrate the process of critical thinking. While true critical thinking may not follow these steps as written, they can serve as a guide or framework for individuals working on improving their critical thinking skills.

• What am I being asked to believe or accept?
• What evidence is available to support the claim?
• What alternative ways are there to interpret the evidence?
• Rate the evidence/alternatives on 0-10 scale based on validity/strength.
• What assumptions or biases came up when doing the above steps? (e.g., using intuition/emotion, authority, or personal experience rather than science)
• What additional evidence would help us evaluate the alternatives?
• What conclusions are most reasonable or likely?

Kraus, S., Sears, S. R., & Burke, B. L. (2013). Is truthiness enough? Classroom activities for encouraging evidence-based critical thinking. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 13 (2), 83-93.

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Example sentences critical thinking

Moreover, critical thinking is central to the pedagogy of a liberal education.

Definition of 'critical' critical

Definition of 'thinking' thinking

Cobuild collocations critical thinking.

Browse alphabetically critical thinking

• critical temperature
• critical theory
• critical thinker
• critical thinking
• critical value
• critical volume
• critical writing
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critical adjective & noun

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What does the word critical mean?

There are 16 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word critical , one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

critical has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

How common is the word critical ?

How is the word critical pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the word critical come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the word critical is in the mid 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for critical is from 1556, in the writing of Robert Recorde, mathematician and physician.

critical is a borrowing from Latin , combined with an English element.

Etymons: Latin criticus , ‑al suffix 1 .

Nearby entries

• criterion-referenced, adj. 1963–
• criterion-referencing, n. 1971–
• criterium, n. a1631–
• crith, n. 1865–
• crithology, n. 1656
• crithomancy, n. 1652–
• critic, n. 1587–
• critic, adj. ?c1400–1889
• critic, v. 1607–
• criticable, adj. 1874–
• critical, adj. & n. 1556–
• critical access, adj. 1989–
• critical angle, n. 1829–
• critical care, n. 1956–
• critical damping, n. 1898–
• critical edition, n. 1721–
• critical flicker frequency, n. 1909–
• critical idealism, n. 1797–
• critical illness, adj. 1986–
• criticality, n. 1758–
• critical legal studies, n. 1975–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for critical, adj. & n..

critical, adj. & n. was revised in March 2022.

critical, adj. & n. was last modified in December 2024.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into critical, adj. & n. in December 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1893)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

• View critical, a. in OED Second Edition

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Edited by: angus stevenson.

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Definition of critical adjective from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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