criteria

noun

variants also criterions
plural of criterion
1
as in standards
something set up as an example against which others of the same type are compared one criterion for grading these essays will be their conformity to the rules of traditional grammar

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in characteristics
something that sets apart an individual from others of the same kind an exceptionally high degree of physical risk is the preeminent criterion of an extreme sport

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of criteria Here are the stocks that met that criteria and were also up more than 5% on the week. — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026 In an interview with USA TODAY, Flock CEO Langley declined to say what specific criteria meet Flock’s internal threshold for unusual activity. — Kenny Jacoby, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 Equip Reviewers To Apply The Criteria Clear approval criteria are an important start. — Sonia Thompson, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026 For the federal court in Miami, the next big step after the bail decision is to hold a hearing to determine whether the legal criteria for extradition have been met. — Bill Chappell, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026 Now, to be clear, nightclubs like Basement have a longstanding subjective — and often nebulous — criteria for who gets in, and anyone dorky enough to show up to one wearing Meta glasses almost certainly wouldn’t make the cut anyway. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 27 Aug. 2026 Developers and researchers search for models that meet certain criteria, download and run them, and fine-tune them into different variants that then get uploaded back up to Hugging Face. — Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2026 Last month, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Gloria Romero issued a similar letter urging the UC Board of Regents to reinstate the SAT as part of UC admissions criteria. — Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 22 Aug. 2026 Picking which projects to back, Yang says, comes down to a specific set of criteria. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for criteria
  1. standards
  2. characteristics
  3. benchmarks
  4. qualities
  5. features
  6. attributes
  7. traits
  8. attributions
Noun
  • By North Carolina’s historical standards, the answer should be no, but the bar has been lowered so much that a trip to a bottom-tier bowl feels like a victory.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Though the enrollment trend can be stabilizing to its balance sheet, the district is still performing well by state standards.
    — Austin Horn, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of standards
Noun
  • Directly transferring the original walking policy failed because the second robot had different body proportions, joint configurations, and motor characteristics.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
  • According to the team, each of those characteristics plays out similarly in real fish of various sizes across different ecological niches.
    — Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of characteristics
Noun
  • His greater concern is whether the field is tracking the benchmarks and measures that matter in clinical care delivery.
    — Lisa Fitzpatrick, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Waymo’s own analysis compares its autonomous-driving performance with human-driver benchmarks over equivalent distances in the same operating areas.
    — Melinda Sheckells, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of benchmarks
Noun
  • Summary Personality traits often blur between desirable and undesirable, with positive qualities becoming negative in extreme.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • McGee joked with the crowd that their most similar qualities were distress around loud noises and mild anxiety.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of qualities
Noun
  • Chinese engineers are widely seen as among the best in the world, making advanced efforts to incorporate mitigation features and surveillance.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Meta and YouTube lost in a social media addiction trial in Los Angeles earlier this year, which was brought by a plaintiff who claimed her mental health was damaged by addictive features like autoplay and infinite scrolling.
    — Sawdah Bhaimiya, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of features
Noun
  • To the surprise of probably no one, these attributes carry over beautifully into the work of country songwriting.
    — Jayson Greene, Pitchfork, 25 Aug. 2026
  • However, these material attributes do not always reduce environmental impacts.
    — Erin Victor, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of attributes
Noun
  • The article notes the overlap between emotional intelligence and psychopathy; while EQ is lauded, psychopathic traits can surprisingly predict career success due to charm and appearing calm under pressure.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Craig was extremely productive at Harvard and has NFL-caliber traits with his size, mobility and throw power.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of traits
Noun
  • In two cases, the publishers added specific attributions, as had been required of Miller’s book.
    — Jessica Meszaros, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The work has bounced between several attributions over the years before scholar Giuseppe Porzio identified it as a painting by Glielmo, giving bidders a fresh reason to take notice.
    — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 3 June 2026
Definition of attributions

Browse Nearby Words

crisscrossing
criteria
criterion
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Cite this Entry

“Criteria.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/criteria. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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