crucial

[kroo-shuhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crucial ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

involving an extremely important decision or result; decisive; critical: a crucial experiment.

severe; trying.

of the form of a cross; cross-shaped.

Origin of crucial

1700–10; < Latin cruci- (stem of crux) cross + -al¹

Related formscru·ci·al·i·ty

[kroo-shee-al-i-tee, kroo-shal-] /ˌkru ʃiˈæl ɪ ti, kruˈʃæl-/, nouncru·cial·ly, adverbnon·cru·cial, adjectivenon·cru·cial·ly, adverbpre·cru·cial, adjective

Synonyms for crucial

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crucial ON THESAURUS.COM

1. momentous, vital, essential, significant.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for crucially

essentially, necessarily, imperatively

Examples from the Web for crucially

Contemporary Examples of crucially

And--crucially--if no one gets 50 per cent of the vote, the top two candidates face off on December 6th.
Election Day In The Big Sleazy
Jeff Greenfield
November 2, 2014
Crucially, however, government whips have begun to ask Conservative MPs how they would vote on two separate questions.
Britain Is Preparing for Military Strikes Against ISIS
Nico Hines
September 4, 2014
And, crucially, what next for these so-called lost women, for the lost girls who have been failed so miserably?
The Psychology of Sex Slave Rings
Charlotte Lytton
August 31, 2014
Most crucially, Happy Valley revolutionizes the connection between rape and suspense.
The Feminist Aesthetic of ‘Happy Valley’: A Refusal to Eroticize Violence Against Women
Batya 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 of crucially

Brockway asked, crucially anxious to know what his friend had been able to do for him.
A Romance in Transit
Francis Lynde
Ford was crucially anxious to find out how the battle was likely to go, and his companion seemed amiably communicative.
Empire Builders
Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for crucially

crucial

adjective

involving a final or supremely important decision or event; decisive; critical

informal very important

slang very good

Derived Formscrucially, adverb

Word Origin for crucial

C18: from French, from Latin crux cross

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

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.