crucial
adjectivecommon in dialogue
- //ˈkɹuː.ʃəl//
Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.
adjective
- 1
Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.
The battle of Tali-Ihantala in 1944 is one of the crucial moments in the history of Finland.
A secure supply of crude oil is crucial for any modern nation, let alone a superpower.
The perfume industry is facing a major problem: maintaining constant levels of quality is crucial, but it is increasingly difficult to obtain a regular supply of all the necessary natural ingredients.
Vocabulary provides a foundation from which grammar, phonology, and morphology emerge, and in a subject area it provides access to conceptual knowledge. Vocabulary selection for pedagogical purposes is therefore crucial.
- 2
archaicCruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.
- 3
slangVery good; excellent; particularly applied to reggae music.
Delbert Wilkins is the most crucial pirate radio DJ in Brixton.
Etymology
1706, from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux, crucis (“cross”) (English crux), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”). The meaning “decisive, critical” is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon in his influential Novum Organum (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.
Forms
- comparative
- more crucial
- superlative
- most crucial
crucial · Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.
crucified · that has been subject to crucifixioncrucify · To execute (a person) by nailing to a cross.crude · In a natural, untreated state.