as in essence
the central part or aspect of something under consideration
the crux of the problem is that the school's current budget is totally inadequate
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of crux
Climb Ice Cream features flavors named after terms familiar to climbers, such as pRappel (ube chocolate chip), K2 (spicy apple pie), Mount Matcha, v3 (vanilla), chocolate crux and more.
—
Samantha Gowen, Oc Register, 9 Mar. 2026
The real crux of the outrage against Spilsbury was her endorsement of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the November presidential election.
—Maritza Dominguez, AZCentral.com, 4 Nov. 2025
That’s another crux of the problem: Wages haven’t kept up with home prices.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2025
Therein lies the whodunnit crux of Netflix's new psychological thriller The Woman in Cabin 10.
—Megan McCluskey, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crux
Samantha Gowen, Oc Register, 9 Mar. 2026
The real crux of the outrage against Spilsbury was her endorsement of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the November presidential election.
—Maritza Dominguez, AZCentral.com, 4 Nov. 2025
That’s another crux of the problem: Wages haven’t kept up with home prices.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2025
Therein lies the whodunnit crux of Netflix's new psychological thriller The Woman in Cabin 10.
—Megan McCluskey, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crux
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crux
Noun
-
If Chartreuse is tasting the essence of the forest from Gaia’s own breast, then Fernet is more like shaking hands with the devil.—
Jason O'Bryan,
Robb Report,
30 May 2026
-
The last album began in essence as an experiment, to see if Dogstar had another chapter in them.—
Steve Appleford,
SPIN,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
Maintain an even supply of moisture to reduce stress on the plant, and water at the roots with a drip hose instead of overhead watering to avoid spreading disease.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
29 May 2026
-
According to legend, the pithiviers has its roots in the first century, when Gauls combined local flour with almonds brought by Roman traders.—
Jen Rose Smith,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
And his age fits perfectly with the Sabres’ core.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
-
At its core, KYA focuses on making sure there’s a verified bond between an AI agent and a real human user.—
Andrew Sever,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
For families The hotel has a kids club with supervised activities so that parents can dine, have spa treatments or shop to their hearts’ content.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
Our hearts go out to Joe's family, friends and the generations of neighbors who loved him.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
But the Thunder stormed back to briefly take the lead just before halftime behind reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander’s 13 points in the second quarter.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
31 May 2026
-
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 35 points and nine assists, but for the eighth consecutive season the NBA will have a new champion.—
Tim Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times,
31 May 2026
Noun
-
Ben Tzur understands the spiritual kernel of this process, having studied under Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar in the ancient dhrupad tradition, where rhythmic Vedic chants achieve a similar effect.—
Arman Khan,
Pitchfork,
1 June 2026
-
Frontier models have already validated hundreds of high-severity zero-days in production open-source code, including a Linux kernel bug that had been sitting unnoticed since 2003.—
Yonesy Nunez,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Crux.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crux. Accessed 3 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
