crucial

adjective

1)

negotiations were at a crucial stage

Syn:

pivotal, critical, key, climacteric, decisive, deciding; life-and-death

Ant:

minor, unimportant

2)

confidentiality is crucial in this case

Syn:

all-important, of the utmost importance, of the essence, critical, preeminent, paramount, essential, vital

Ant:

unimportant

••

crucial, acute, critical, deciding, pressing, urgent

In any emergency or crisis situation, there is usually a turning point. Such an event is called critical if it determines the outcome of a situation (a critical point in the nuclear disarmament negotiations; a critical election for the Democratic Party). Crucial can also refer to a turning point, but it emphasizes the necessity of something happening before a result can be achieved (the battle was crucial to their victory), while critical suggests more of a balance between positive and negative outcomes (a critical debate on foreign policy). Acute describes the intensification of a situation that is rapidly approaching a climax (an acute shortage of O-negative blood), while deciding refers to something that forces a certain outcome (a deciding factor in his recovery). Pressing and urgent are milder words. A situation that is pressing may be chronic rather than acute (a pressing need for changes in the political system), while an urgent situation may be approaching a crisis without reference to a specific turning point (an urgent meeting between the two presidents). While urgent expresses more intensity than pressing, neither adjective conveys the same sense of intensity as crucial, critical, or acute.