uncritical

U1N1C3R1I1T1I1C3A1L1

adjective

Lacking critique or critical examination; undiscriminating.

“an uncritical review”

Similar
noncritical
Opposite
critical
OriginEnglish critical ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Latin criticus →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

adjectiveuncritical (comparative more uncritical, superlative most uncritical)

comparative more uncritical · superlative most uncritical

  1. Lacking critique or critical examination; undiscriminating.

    an uncritical review

    2 more examples

    Let any competent judge read Hacket's Life of Archbishop Williams, and then these Sermons, and so measure the stultifying, nugifying effect of a blind and uncritical study of the Fathers […]

    c. 1827-1833, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Hacket

    More importantly, the rehearsing of that information has been almost completely uncritical, indicating a lack of recourse to any further information about the term.

    2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 55
  2. Having a disregard for critical standards or procedures.
  3. Slow to criticize.

    uncritical to the point of tolerating incompetence, jeopardizing the business model

Synonyms & antonyms

all senses

Opposite
critical

adjectivemarked by disregard for critical standards or procedures

Similar
noncritical
Opposite
critical

adjectivenot critical; not tending to find or call attention to errors

Opposite
critical
Also see
noncritical

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*krey-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*krinyéti
  10. Proto-Hellenic*kríňňō
  11. Ancient Greekκρῑ́νω (krī́nō)
  12. Ancient Greekκρῐ- (krĭ-)
  13. Ancient Greekκρῐτής (krĭtḗs)
  14. Ancient Greekκριτικός (kritikós)
  15. Latincriticus
  16. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  17. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  18. Englishcritical
  19. Englishuncritical

From un- + critical.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian безкритичен
  • безкритичен (bezkritičen)indulgent or undiscriminating; slow to criticize
Finnish huolimaton, välinpitämätön
  • huolimatonhaving a disregard for critical standards or procedures
  • välinpitämätönhaving a disregard for critical standards or procedures
  • kritiikitönindulgent or undiscriminating; slow to criticize
German unkritisch
  • unkritischindulgent or undiscriminating; slow to criticize
Polish bezkrytyczny
  • bezkrytycznyindulgent or undiscriminating; slow to criticize
Romanian necritic, indulgent
  • necriticindulgent or undiscriminating; slow to criticize
  • indulgentindulgent or undiscriminating; slow to criticize
Cite this entry
APA

uncritical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uncritical

MLA

“uncritical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uncritical. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “uncritical,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uncritical.

Source: uncritical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.