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• crux
  crux

  noun

  a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point.
• Crux
  Crux

  noun

  Southern Cross.

crux

¹ American  

[kruhks] / krʌks /

noun

• cruxes,
  plural
• cruces
  plural

1. a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point.

   The crux of the trial was his whereabouts at the time of the murder.

   Synonyms:

   gist, core, heart, essence

2. a cross.

3. something that torments by its puzzling nature; a perplexing difficulty.

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Crux ² American  

[kruhks] / krʌks /

noun

Astronomy.

• Crucis
  genitive

1. Southern Cross.

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crux ¹ British  

/ krʌks /

noun

1. a vital or decisive stage, point, etc (often in the phrase the crux of the matter )

2. a baffling problem or difficulty

3. mountaineering the most difficult and often decisive part of a climb or pitch

4. a rare word for cross

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Crux ² British  

/ krʌks /

noun

1. the more formal name for the Southern Cross

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cruces
  plural
• cruxes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of crux¹

1635–45; < Latin: stake, scaffold, or cross used in executions, torment; figurative senses perhaps < New Latin crux ( interpretum ) (commentators') torment, a difficult passage in a text; cf. crucial

Origin of Crux²

< Latin: a cross

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Explanation

The essential point or problem is the crux. People are always trying to get to the crux of a matter or the crux of a problem, while others try to distract them. The noun crux is often followed by the phrases "of the matter" or "of the problem." When people are trying to identify the crux of something, it's like they want to get to the heart of it. They want to peel back the layers and find out what something is really all about or what is causing the problem. No more beating around the bush!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crux Crux cruces cruxes Crucis

Coupang protested the penalty, saying in a statement: "The crux of this case is that our efforts to provide better services to customers have instead been deemed unlawful."

From Barron's ● Nov. 9, 2026

This is the crux of Frances and Jeff’s concerns.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

The crux was a proposal to introduce a bill to parliament to impose sanctions on energy firms planning to begin oil exploration off the Falklands.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Last year, with her second LP “The Art of Loving,” Dean became the latest British woman to earn global fame at the crux of old-soul balladry and modern pop panache.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

“But we have come to the crux of our campaign. Tonight, at dinner, we will be introduced to Blanche of Castile—the king’s mother.”

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

"In Latin, this constellation is called Crux, the Southern Cross, which points toward the southernmost region of the planet, where Kank was discovered."

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

Crux Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund, also decided to build a custom CRM after struggling to find SaaS offerings that fit its needs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

The online Catholic magazine Crux noted that five popes — Pius V, Sixtus V, Clement XIII, Paul V and Clement IX — are interred in that basilica.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 14, 2023

Mr Crux said: "It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire this highly successful business, with the long-standing association with Heartbeat."

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2023

When Dimarion and the Crux showed up on the horizon that morning, well, the smart thing would have been to run.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

The comparative accuracy of this outline, so incredibly good as mere guesswork, must remain one of the chief cruces of Mediæval geography.

From The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea Vol. II by Gomes Eannes de Zurara

Good wine and sound ale have their uses, To distinguish 'twixt which and abuses The clear-headed want; But illogical cant Will ne'er solve our worst social cruces.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, September 26, 1891 by Various

Then after a page or two we come to the chief cruces of Moore's pathetic and of his comic manner, "The Last Rose of Summer," "The Young May Moon," and "The Minstrel Boy."

From Essays in English Literature, 1780-1860 by George Saintsbury

These sorts of cruces always are to 224 me the most insoluble, and I should not wonder if D.B. stuck there for a week or two.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) by Andrew Lang

The sterility of hybrids has been always considered one of the great cruces in connection with any theory of Evolution. 

From Selections from Previous Works and Remarks on Romanes' Mental Evolution in Animals by Samuel Butler

One of the cruxes of sleep hygiene is consistency.

From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2022

That’s why Rana’s lawsuit cruxes on Amazon’s algorithms, apps, and devices that Amazon uses to micromanage its workers.

From The Verge ● Nov. 14, 2021

The students’ argument in court, which is a part of the Xiaocheng Cup Public Welfare Litigation Competition, cruxes on this premise.

From The Verge ● Oct. 27, 2021

Payne flits between the two cataclysms, first with slow precision, and then, as the cruxes approach, back and forth cinematically, the borders showing some slippage.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2019

There were all sorts of legal cruxes to be thought out, not only regarding the taking of life, even of a monstrosity in human form, but also of property. 

From Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker

Faithful hold candles during a Via Crucis torchlight procession in Rome.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2024

It is the first time the pope will not preside at the "Via Crucis" service at Rome's Colosseum since he was elected in 2013.

From Reuters ● Apr. 7, 2023

In the Vatican, Pope Francis presided over the Via Crucis or Way of the Cross ceremony in a barren St. Peter’s Square.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 6, 2021

In 2017, Pueblo Sin Fronteras took the Via Crucis a step further, organizing several hundred migrants to travel from near the Guatemala border all the way to the United States.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2018

But—she realised that for the man and woman of her day to enter upon such a marriage was also to enter upon a Via Crucis.

From Shadows of Flames A Novel by Amélie Rives

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Related Words

• bottom line
• core
• essence
• gist
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