English Meaning & Definitions
Extremely important; decisive or critical to the success or outcome of something.
- “Good communication is crucial for a successful relationship.”
- “The detective found a crucial piece of evidence that solved the case.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “crucial”.
Derived from the Latin word 'crux' (meaning 'cross'), originally referring to a crossroad or a decisive point where a choice must be made. It later entered French ('crucial') and English in the 17th century, initially used in medicine to describe a vital, decisive test or symptom (such as the cruciate ligaments of the knee, which cross each other), before broadening to mean extremely important.
Think of a CRUX (a vital point or puzzle) when something is CRUCIAL.
Frequently Asked Questions About “crucial”
1. What is the meaning of “crucial” in English?
In English, crucial (adjective) is defined as: “Extremely important; decisive or critical to the success or outcome of something.”.
2. How do you use “crucial” in a sentence?
“Good communication is crucial for a successful relationship.”
3. What are English synonyms of “crucial”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “crucial”?
Derived from the Latin word 'crux' (meaning 'cross'), originally referring to a crossroad or a decisive point where a choice must be made. It later entered French ('crucial') and English in the 17th century, initially used in medicine to describe a vital, decisive test or symptom (such as the cruciate ligaments of the knee, which cross each other), before broadening to mean extremely important.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.