A standard by which a judgment or decision is made. In the NFL, the ultimate criterion for judging a team's excellence is its ability to win the Super Bowl. You must meet certain criteria in order to graduate. Your work must meet certain criteria in order to be acceptable. Teachers have to correct their students' mistakes without seeming to be hypercritical.
Constructive criticism can be helpful.
If your aunt asks you what you think of her new experimental meatloaf and you say it needs a pinch of oregano, you're being constructive. If you say she should cut down on the sawdust next time, however, you're being hypercritical. The students offered gentle critiques of each other's reports. Critique is both a noun and a verb. Often writers and artists will form groups solely to critique each other's work, hoping that these critiques will help them improve.