CRITICALITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does criticality mean? 

• CRITICALITY (noun)
  The noun CRITICALITY has 2 senses:

1. a state of critical urgency

2. a critical state; especially the point at which a nuclear reaction is self-sustaining

  Familiarity information: CRITICALITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRITICALITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of critical urgency

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

criticality; criticalness; cruciality

Hypernyms ("criticality" is a kind of...):

urgency (the state of being urgent; an earnest and insistent necessity)

Derivation:

critical (being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency)

critical (urgently needed; absolutely necessary)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A critical state; especially the point at which a nuclear reaction is self-sustaining

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("criticality" is a kind of...):

critical point; crossroads; juncture (a crisis situation or point in time when a critical decision must be made)

Attribute:

critical (at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction)

noncritical (not critical; not at a point of abrupt change)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "criticality"):

flash point; flashpoint (point at which something is ready to blow up)

Derivation:

critical (at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction)