informal
: an animal : creature sense 1
Most of her sublime illustrations involve hippos and pigs, which are appealing critters, especially when they have a few chocolate smudges around the mouth.—
People Weekly
People WeeklyWhen the wind is blowing just so, the field is set afire on three sides, and all manner of critters get flushed out of one end—snakes, possums, raccoons, and rabbits, lots of rabbits.—Alexander Wolff
Alexander WolffFlies, gnats, mosquitoes, ticks, mites and lice pester your horse year-round. If you ignore them, these critters can cause your equine friend months of misery.—Charlene Strickland
—sometimes used of a personCharlene StricklandSale admits that humans, being the relatively big-brained critters we are, cannot do without technology …—M. Kujawa
M. KujawaExamples of critter in a Sentence
The woods are filled with skunks, raccoons, and other critters.
she's so fond of every kind of critter that she ought to be a veterinarian
Recent Examples on the Web
These critters are voracious filter feeders that deplete the plankton that other native fish also depend on.
—Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026
As the population of this invasive species has exploded in recent years, so too has interest in targeting the destructive critters.
—Rayna O'Nan, Outdoor Life, 12 Mar. 2026
Check out our Sea Camp series and our limited run Sea Camp newsletter, featuring deep dives into research, cute critters and games!
—Berly McCoy, NPR, 11 Mar. 2026
Mabel befriends dam-building King George (Bobby Moynihan), runs afoul of an insect queen (Meryl Streep) and meets a ton of critters, from an emoji-loving lizard to a professional killer-for-hire shark.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for critter
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Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026
As the population of this invasive species has exploded in recent years, so too has interest in targeting the destructive critters.
—Rayna O'Nan, Outdoor Life, 12 Mar. 2026
Check out our Sea Camp series and our limited run Sea Camp newsletter, featuring deep dives into research, cute critters and games!
—Berly McCoy, NPR, 11 Mar. 2026
Mabel befriends dam-building King George (Bobby Moynihan), runs afoul of an insect queen (Meryl Streep) and meets a ton of critters, from an emoji-loving lizard to a professional killer-for-hire shark.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for critter
Cite this Entry
“Critter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/critter. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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