Phrase guide

critical point

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The temperature and pressure at which the vapour density of the gas and liquid phases of a fluid are equal, at which point there is no difference between gas and liquid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics, thermodynamics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A point at which the derivative of a function is zero or undefined, such as a minimum, a maximum, a point of inflection or, in multivariate calculus, a saddle point.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A juncture at which time a critical decision must be made.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a crisis situation or point in time when a critical decision must be made

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • at that juncture he had no idea what to do
  • he must be made to realize that the company stands at a critical point

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: juncture, crossroads

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: crisis

Narrower terms: criticality

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կրիտիկական կետ (kritikakan ket) — in thermodynamics
  • Bulgarian: крити́чна то́чка (kritíčna tóčka) — in thermodynamics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 臨界點 /临界点 (línjièdiǎn) — in thermodynamics
  • Czech: kritický bod — in thermodynamics
  • Dutch: kritisch punt — in thermodynamics
  • Finnish: kriittinen piste — in thermodynamics
  • French: point critique — in thermodynamics
  • Japanese: 臨界点 (rinkaiten) — in thermodynamics
  • Korean: 임계점 (imgyejeom) — in thermodynamics
  • Mongolian: критик цэг (kritik ceg) — in thermodynamics
  • Polish: punkt krytyczny — in thermodynamics
  • Portuguese: ponto crítico — in thermodynamics
  • Romanian: punct critic — in thermodynamics
  • Russian: крити́ческая то́чка (kritíčeskaja tóčka) — in thermodynamics
  • Spanish: punto crítico — in thermodynamics
  • Swedish: kritisk punkt — in thermodynamics
  • Tagalog: maselang tungos — in thermodynamics
  • Armenian: կրիտիկական կետ (kritikakan ket) — in mathematics
  • Asturian: puntu críticu — in mathematics
  • Azerbaijani: böhran nöqtəsi — in mathematics
  • Bulgarian: крити́чна то́чка (kritíčna tóčka) — in mathematics
  • Catalan: punt crític — in mathematics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 臨界點 /临界点 (línjièdiǎn) — in mathematics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 臨界值 /临界值 (línjièzhí) — in mathematics
  • Dutch: kritisch punt — in mathematics
  • Finnish: ääriarvo — in mathematics
  • Finnish: käännepiste — in mathematics
  • French: point critique — in mathematics
  • Galician: punto crítico — in mathematics
  • Italian: punto critico — in mathematics
  • Polish: punkt krytyczny — in mathematics
  • Portuguese: ponto crítico — in mathematics
  • Russian: крити́ческая то́чка (kritíčeskaja tóčka) — in mathematics
  • Spanish: punto crítico — in mathematics
  • Swedish: kritisk punkt — in mathematics
  • Swedish: inflektionspunkt — in mathematics