critically mindedadj.n.
/ˌkrɪtᵻklɪ ˈmʌɪndᵻd/, /ˌkrɪtᵻkl̩ɪ ˈmʌɪndᵻd/, U.S. /ˌkrɪdək(ə)li ˈmaɪndᵻd/ A. adj.
Having a mind of a critical nature or tendency; esp. having the ability to apply critical thinking. Cf. critical-minded adj.
ΚΠ
1840 Morning Post 26 Nov. 5/6 The sceptical and critically-minded man finds [in the Scriptures] the ordinary human proofs that there is at all events authenticity in the history—that it is nothing invented by men to serve the purposes of deceit.
1854 Home Compan. Apr. 196/2 The critically-minded visitor may probably be struck with the incongruity of exhibiting Egyptian antiquities in a strictly Grecian room.
2003 H. Wang China's New Order (2006) ii. 90 A number of critically minded intellectuals began to consider the question of social justice.
B. n.
With the and plural agreement. Critically-minded people considered collectively.
ΚΠ
1881 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Sept. 12/1 Certainly Mrs. Cradock's ‘little Rose’ will not satisfy the critically minded.
1906 Daily Chron. 1 May 3/3 The critically-minded might find fault with some of the drawing.
2020 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 23 Mar. (Features section) 16 For the critically minded..religious simplistic attitudes are so repulsive, religious texts are dismissed out of hand.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2022).
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adj.n.1840