crucial
adjective
Simple meaning
Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
krooshuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɹuʃəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.
Used this way, crucial is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use crucial
- “A crucial moment in his career.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Essential / extreme
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Very important; vital or crucial.
In an important degree.
Determining or having the power to determine an outcome.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: essential or decisive for determining the outcome
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Related Learning
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.