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I overheard someone at work describing a task as "quite critical", and then describe another task as (direct quote) "über critical". Forgetting for a minute the colloquial nature of the conversation, is it acceptable in English to use the word critical with a magnitude or degree?

In short, can something be more critical than something else? Or are things simply critical, or not critical?

Urbycoz
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MasNotsram
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    Of course it can, and you have even supplied proof for it yourself. – RegDwigнt Aug 18 '14 at 10:08
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    For your title question: No, it can't. Something that is slightly critical is merely important, just like something that is slightly huge is merely large and something that is slightly tiny is merely small. Critical essentially means very important, and so you're saying something is *slightly very important,* which doesn't make sense. Your other questions have already been answered. – Peter Shor Aug 18 '14 at 11:04

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I'd also like to point out that one of the other primary uses of critical (see here), "to express disapproving or judgmental comments" is more likely to have a qualifier. In this scenario, the qualifier is used to indicate the frequency or severity of someone's critiques, or the severity of a critique itself.

But the qualifier on the "important" form of the adjective is fairly common, and used to emphasize the perceived importance - especially in an environment like a workplace that tends to make many things "critical" that are not really critical.

Telastyn
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Sure, why not? All qualities can be graded.

Only adjectives that describe all-or-none properties like: present/ absent, dead/alive, true/false (in a logical sense), right/wrong etc. can only take a non-grading adverb like quite, clearly, absolutely etc., which does not grade the adjective but means 'undobtedly' or the like.

It is not clear what you mean by a 'quite/over critical task'. For example, in physics 'critical' has a particular meaning that can neither be graded nor intensified: critical mass/temperature etc. Adjectives can be gradable in one meaning and non-gradable in another, so we need to know the meaning of your adjective.

If a task is 'critical' when, if it is delayed, influences the finishing date, then the damage is variable and it can be gradable, as it is when it means 'expressing criticism'

@JoeBlow, in your comment there is a lot of confusion.

Arguably true, possibly true, previously true, ...., definitely true,

You do not seem able to distinguish between adverbs:

  • 1) 'definitely' is equivalent of 'quite' (non-grading), and:
  • 2) 'occasionally', 'previously' are temporal adverbs. Bottom line: none is a grading adverb, what/who is quite wrong?. Check here and with good a dictionary!