crucial
[kroo-shuh l]
- involving an extremely important decision or result; decisive; critical: a crucial experiment.
- severe; trying.
- of the form of a cross; cross-shaped.
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Origin of crucial
Synonyms
See more synonyms for crucial on Thesaurus.com1. momentous, vital, essential, significant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for crucially
Contemporary Examples
And--crucially--if no one gets 50 per cent of the vote, the top two candidates face off on December 6th.
Crucially, however, government whips have begun to ask Conservative MPs how they would vote on two separate questions.
And, crucially, what next for these so-called lost women, for the lost girls who have been failed so miserably?
Most crucially, Happy Valley revolutionizes the connection between rape and suspense.
The Feminist Aesthetic of ‘Happy Valley’: A Refusal to Eroticize Violence Against WomenBatya Ungar-Sargon
August 31, 2014
She also, and most crucially, sought the advice of David Fincher (The Social Network, House of Cards).
Courteney Cox Gets Personal About Her Directorial Debut, ‘Just Before I Go’Kevin Fallon
April 29, 2014
Historical Examples
Brockway asked, crucially anxious to know what his friend had been able to do for him.
A Romance in TransitFrancis Lynde
Ford was crucially anxious to find out how the battle was likely to go, and his companion seemed amiably communicative.
Empire BuildersFrancis Lynde
crucial
- involving a final or supremely important decision or event; decisive; critical
- informal very important
- slang very good
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Word Origin
C18: from French, from Latin crux cross
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for crucially
crucial
adj.
1706, "cross-shaped," from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cross" (see cross (n.)). The meaning "decisive, critical" (1830) is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper