Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - crucial

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. If you describe something as crucial, you mean it is extremely important. He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself... Improved consumer confidence is crucial to an economic recovery. = critical ADJ: oft ADJ to n • crucially Chewing properly is crucially important... Crucially, though, it failed to secure the backing of the banks. ADV