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critical thinking noun

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What does the noun critical thinking mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun critical thinking . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun critical thinking ?

Where does the noun critical thinking come from?

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun critical thinking is in the 1810s.

OED's earliest evidence for critical thinking is from 1815, in Critical Review .

critical thinking is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: critical adj. , thinking n.

Nearby entries

• critical potential, n. 1916–
• critical pressure, n. 1878–
• critical race theory, n. 1989–
• critical rationalism, n. 1945–
• critical region, n. 1933–
• critical size, n. 1940–
• critical state, n. 1871–
• critical temperature, n. 1870–
• critical theorist, n. 1753–
• critical theory, n. 1799–
• critical thinking, n. 1815–
• critical volume, n. 1878–
• criticaster, n. 1669–
• criticasterism, n. 1805–
• criticastry, n. 1887–
• criticiasis, n. 1874
• criticism, n. 1606–
• criticist, n. & adj. 1838–
• criticizable, adj. 1751–
• criticize, v. 1621–
• criticizer, n. a1680–

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Meaning & use

Entry history for critical thinking, n..

Originally published as part of the entry for critical, adj. & n.

critical thinking, n. was first published in June 2018.

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Factsheet for critical thinking, n., browse entry.

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critical thinking

[ krit -i-k uh l thing -king ]

The questions are intended to develop your critical thinking.

Discover More

Word history and origins.

Origin of critical thinking 1

Example Sentences

Being a pilot requires a particular reliance on critical thinking, preparing for a variety of situations and keeping calm and mission-focused, all of which are incredible skills to bring into a new business.

For one, our education system can equip people with critical thinking skills, media literacy and an understanding of the forces at work when people make truth judgments.

They need to be well-prepared and informed and capable of critical thinking.

It’s not possible to entirely shut out what they’re saying, but it’s best to do your own critical thinking.

What I worry about is that people aren’t learning critical thinking skills.

In court, labelers could argue that they were just trying to give students choices, while encouraging critical thinking.

For those in the movement, this means cultivating an attachment to Israel while fostering critical thinking.

A little debate and critical thinking are good for everyone.

But his timid foray into critical thinking brings swift and severe punishment.

The shift is most evident in our schools, where critical thinking has replaced rote learning as the central goal of education.

Ordinary propaganda, for instance, is quite ineffective on people trained in critical thinking.

So far as we conduct each of these processes in the light of the other, we get valid discovery or verified critical thinking.

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critical thinking

Definition of critical thinking

Examples of critical thinking in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'critical thinking.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Dictionary Entries Near critical thinking

critical temperature

critical value

Cite this Entry

“Critical thinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/critical%20thinking. Accessed 1 Jul. 2024.

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Article contents

Critical thinking.

• Derek Allen , Derek Allen University of Toronto
• Sharon Bailin , Sharon Bailin Simon Fraser University
• Mark Battersby Mark Battersby Capilano University
•  and  James B. Freeman James B. Freeman Hunter College of the City University of New York, Emeritus
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1179
• Published online: 27 October 2020

There are numerous definitions of critical thinking, but the core concept has been said to be careful, reasoned, goal-directed thinking. There are also many conceptualizations of critical thinking, which are generally more detailed than brief definitions, and there are different views about what the goal(s) of critical thinking instruction should be. Whether critical thinking is a good thing is a matter of debate. Approaches to teaching critical thinking vary, partly according to whether they focus on general principles of critical thinking or on subject-matter content or on a combination of both. A meta-analysis research report published in 2015 concluded that, subject to certain qualifications, a variety of critical thinking skills and dispositions can develop in students through instruction at all educational levels. Critical thinking instruction has been influenced by research in cognitive psychology that has suggested strategies for countering factors (e.g., biases) that the research has found to produce irrational beliefs. Methods of assessing critical thinking ability include teacher-designed tests and standardized tests. A research report published in 2014 on assessing critical thinking in higher education describes challenges involved in designing standardized critical thinking tests and proposes a framework for a “next-generation” assessment. The challenges include achieving a balance between the assessment's real-world relevance and its psychometric quality, and designing an assessment useful for instructional purposes and for comparisons of programs and institutions. The proposed framework is based partly on a review of existing frameworks of critical thinking in higher education. It has two analytical dimensions and two synthetic dimensions, and a dimension on understanding causation and explanation. Surveys show that employers value employees with strong critical thinking ability; this fact has significant implications for students, teachers, and administrators at all levels of education.

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date: 01 July 2024

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• The Key is Being Metacognitive
• The Big Picture
• Learning Outcomes
• Test your Existing Knowledge
• Definitions of Critical Thinking
• Learning How to Think Critically
• Self Reflection Activity
• End of Module Survey
• Test Your Existing Knowledge
• Interpreting Information Methodically
• Using the SEE-I Method
• Interpreting Information Critically
• Argument Analysis
• Learning Activities
• Argument Mapping
• Summary of Anlyzing Arguments
• Fallacious Reasoning
• Statistical Misrepresentation
• Biased Reasoning
• Common Cognitive Biases
• Poor Research Methods - The Wakefield Study
• Summary of How Reasoning Fails
• Misinformation and Disinformation
• Media and Digital Literacy
• Information Trustworthiness
• Summary of How Misinformation is Spread

Critical Thinking Tutorial: Definitions of Critical Thinking

Finding meaning.

In this section, your task is to develop your own working definition of critical thinking . In other words, think about what thinking critically means to you in your own personal or academic context.

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• Next: Learning How to Think Critically >>
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What is Critical Thinking?

7 steps to critical thinking, books in the collection.

• Synthesizing Information
• Entering the Conversation
• APA Style (7th ed.) This link opens in a new window

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.

These ebooks are available in the NEOLINK catalog.

These books are available on-site in the library's circulating collection.

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Aultman Health Sciences Library

Aultman Education Center, C2-230, 2600 Sixth St SW, Canton, OH 44710  |  330-363-5000   |  [email protected]

Course details

Critical thinking: an introduction.

This is an In-person course which requires your attendance to the weekly meetings which take place in Oxford.

In print, online and in conversation, we frequently encounter conflicting views on important issues: from climate change, vaccinations and current political events to economic policy, healthy lifestyles and parenting. It can be difficult to know how to make up one’s own mind when confronted with such diverse viewpoints.

This course teaches you how to critically engage with different points of view. You are given some guidelines that will help you decide to what extent to trust the person, organisation, website or publication defending a certain position. You are also shown how to assess others’ views and arrive at your own point of view through reasoning. We discuss examples of both reasoning about facts and the reasoning required in making practical decisions. We distinguish risky inferences with probable conclusions from risk-free inferences with certain conclusions. You are shown how to spot and avoid common mistakes in reasoning. 

No previous knowledge of critical thinking or logic is needed. This course will be enjoyed by those who relish the challenge of thinking rationally and learning new skills. The skills and concepts taught will also be useful when studying other areas of philosophy.

Programme details

Term Starts:  2 Oct 2024

Week 1: What is critical thinking? What is the difference between reasoning and other ways of forming beliefs or making decisions?

Week 2: What is a logical argument? How do arguments differ from conditionals, explanations and rhetoric?

Week 3: Certainty versus high probability: the distinction between deductive and inductive reasoning.

Week 4: Deductive validity and logical form. 

Week 5: When do arguments rely on hidden premises? What is probability?

Week 6: Inductive generalisations and reasoning about causes.

Week 7: Inference to the best explanation.

Week 8: Practical reasoning: Reasoning about what to do.

Week 9: When is it appropriate to believe what others tell you? What is the significance of expertise?

Week 10: Putting it all together: We analyse and assess longer passages of reasoning.

Recommended reading

All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.

There is a Guide for Weekly Class students which will give you further information.

Availability of titles on the reading list (below) can be checked on SOLO , the library catalogue.

Preparatory reading

• Critical Reasoning: A Romp Through the Foothills of Logic for Complete Beginners / Talbot, M
• Critical Thinking : An Introduction to Reasoning Well / Watson, J C and Arp R

Recommended Reading List

Digital Certification

To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend at least 80% of the classes on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Dr Andrea Lechler

Andrea Lechler holds a degree in Computational Linguistics, an MSc in Artificial Intelligence, and an MA and PhD in Philosophy. She has extensive experience of teaching philosophy for OUDCE and other institutions. Her website is www.andrealechler.com. 

Course aims

To help students improve their critical thinking skills.    

Course Objectives:

• To help students reflect on how people reason and how they try to persuade others of their views.
• To make students familiar with the principles underlying different types of good reasoning as well as common mistakes in reasoning.
• To present some guidelines for identifying trustworthy sources of information.

Teaching methods

The tutor will present the course content in an interactive way using plenty of examples and exercises. Students are encouraged to ask questions and participate in class discussions and group work. To consolidate their understanding of the subject they will be assigned further exercises as homework.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

• be able to pick out and analyse passages of reasoning in texts and conversations
• understand the most important ways of assessing the cogency of such reasoning
• know how to assess the trustworthiness of possible sources of information.

Assessment methods

Assessment is based on a set of exercises similar to those discussed in class. One set of homework exercises can be submitted as a practice assignment.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting their final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an  enrolment form (Word)  or  enrolment form (Pdf) .

Level and demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support

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A Dictionary of Critical Theory (1 ed.)  

Ian buchanan.

This is the most wide-ranging and up-to-date dictionary of critical theory available, covering the whole range of critical theory, including the Frankfurt school, cultural materialism, gender studies, literary theory, hermeneutics, historical materialism, and sociopolitical critical theory. Entries clearly explain even the most complex of theoretical discourses, such as Marxism, psychoanalysis, structuralism, deconstruction, and postmodernism. There are also biographies of important figures in the field, with feature entries for those who have heavily influenced areas of the discipline.

Covering all aspects of the subject from globalization and race studies, to queer theory and feminism, this multidisciplinary A-Z is essential for students of literary and cultural studies and is useful for anyone studying a humanity subject requiring a knowledge of theory.

Bibliographic Information

Affiliations are at time of print publication..

Ian Buchanan is Director of the Institute for Social Transformation Research at the University of Wollongong. He has authored or edited over a dozen books as well as special issues of journals, as well as founding the journal Deleuze Studies .

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Absent cause, abstractionism, active and reactive, actor-network theory, actual and virtual, adorno, theodor, affective fallacy, agamben, giorgio, alienation-effect, alternate modernity, front matter, publishing information, general links for this work, introduction.

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Meaning of critical in English

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critical adjective ( NOT PLEASED )

• She is critical of the president's globalist foreign policy .
• She was highly critical of the insensitive and peremptory way in which the cases had been handled .
• Many people were critical of the resurgent militarism in the country .
• She is a prolific writer with critical views and a sharp tongue .
• She is very critical of the way we bring up our children .
• astringency
• astringently
• be all very well idiom
• hypercritical
• scarifyingly
• scorchingly
• uncomplimentary
• witheringly

critical adjective ( GIVING OPINIONS )

• Studying has certainly sharpened my critical faculties .
• Despite his great commercial success he still yearns for critical approval .
• The play opened to great critical acclaim .
• He has written a long critical piece evaluating the exhibition .
• adjudication
• have the measure of someone/something idiom
• interpretable
• interpretive
• reinspection
• reinterpret
• reinterpretation
• reinvestigate
• reinvestigation

critical adjective ( IMPORTANT )

• The avoidance of injury is critical to a professional athlete .
• It is critical that we keep the content of the letters secret .
• Continued funding is critical for the project .
• He left a case containing critical documents on the train .
• Continual stirring is critical to a good custard .
• all-important
• at all costs idiom
• be a matter of life and/or death idiom
• last but not least idiom
• life-altering
• life-and-death
• principally

critical adjective ( SERIOUS )

• battered child syndrome
• battered woman syndrome
• be in the wars idiom
• first degree
• flesh wound
• fourth degree
• incapacitate
• personal injury

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Critical | american dictionary, critical adjective ( very bad ), critical adjective ( judging entertainment ), critical adjective ( disapproving person ), critical | business english, examples of critical, translations of critical.

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• critical (NOT PLEASED)
• critical (GIVING OPINIONS)
• critical (IMPORTANT)
• critical (SERIOUS)
• critical (VERY BAD)
• critical (JUDGING ENTERTAINMENT)
• critical (DISAPPROVING PERSON)
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