überkritische

Überkritische is a German adjective formed from über- (beyond, excessively) and kritisch (critical). The form überkritische is typically used attributively before feminine or plural nouns, for example in phrases like eine überkritische Haltung or überkritische Bewertungen. In everyday language it denotes an excessive or hypercritical stance, judgment, or analysis. It is usually not a standalone term but appears within phrases describing a mode of critique or evaluation.

In the sciences, überkritische is used in relation to states that exceed a critical point. In thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, überkritische Zustände refer to supercritical states in which a substance is above its critical temperature and pressure. In such conditions, properties of liquids and gases merge, and the substance can exhibit distinctive, continuous behavior rather than distinct liquid or gas phases. The concept is closely associated with supercritical fluids, notably supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2), which is widely used in extraction, chromatography, and materials processing due to its altered density, viscosity, and solvating power above the critical point.

The term appears in German-language technical writing to describe phenomena, states, or effects that arise beyond the critical threshold. Its precise meaning depends on context, whether discussing physical states, chemical processes, or metaphorical applications in criticism or analysis. The English equivalents are hypercritical for the figurative sense and supercritical for the physical sense.