adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Of a substance or system above a critical threshold or range.; Above its critical temperature and critical pressure.
2. 2
   Of a substance or system above a critical threshold or range.; Having a mass sufficient to sustain an accelerating fission chain reaction.
3. 3
   Of a substance or system above a critical threshold or range.; Above the speed of sound.

Adjective

1. 1
   (especially of fissionable material) able to sustain a chain reaction in such a manner that the rate of reaction increases wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

critical

Antonyms

All antonyms

subcritical

Etymology

From super- + critical.

Related phrases

supercritical airfoilsupercritical dryingsupercritical fieldsupercritical flowsupercritical fluidsupercritical masssupercritical reactorsupercritical wingchain reactioncritical pressurecritical temperaturespeed of sound

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.