kritische

Kritische is a declined form of the German adjective kritisch, meaning "critical" or "crucial." It is not a separate word on its own, but a grammatical ending that the adjective takes in front of a noun under certain determiner conditions. In standard German, kritisch appears with multiple endings depending on gender, number, and case, and kritische is one of its common surface forms.

In everyday usage, kritische appears most often in feminine singular and neuter singular when the noun is preceded by a definite article or another determiner that triggers the weak inflection. Examples include Die kritische Situation (the critical situation) and Das kritische Denken (the critical thinking). With an indefinite article, the form can still appear in feminine or neuter singular phrases like Eine kritische Phase. In plural with a definite determiner, the ending changes to kritischen, as in Die kritischen Situationen (the critical situations).

Etymology and scope: the adjective derives from the same root as Kritik (criticism) and ultimately from Greek kritikos, via Latin criticus, reflecting the sense of judging, discerning, or evaluating. As a result, kritische often conveys a sense of urgency, importance, or analytical orientation in contexts ranging from science and philosophy to everyday assessment. It is part of a broader system of German adjective endings, and its exact form depends on the accompanying determiner and the noun it describes.

See also: kritisch, Kritik, Kritiker.