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Synonyms

all-important

American  
[awl-im-pawr-tnt] / ˈɔl ɪmˈpɔr tnt /

adjective

  1. extremely or vitally important; essential.

all-important British  

adjective

  1. crucial; vital

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of all-important

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After “Let ’Em In,” McCartney asked his band member Brian Ray to show off the song’s all-important bass line: a single note plucked over and over and over again.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2026

Nonfood sales led the fall in the run-up to the all-important holiday period, though food-and-drink sales volumes inched up.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

This is where your backroom staff is all-important, and it is the same at every club.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2026

This time the Fed is expected to continue cutting rates: “And if, as I expect, U.S. inflation remains stuck at around 3%, then the all-important real interest rate will continue to decline.”

From MarketWatch • Jan. 9, 2026

Nobody has their eye on that all-important diploma, let me tell you.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.