crux means A distinctive winter constellation of the southern sky, shaped like a cross. It appears in the flags of several countries in Oceania.
crux is pronounced /kɹʌks/.
Why “crux” is a great word
The central, most essential, or decisive point of a matter. From the Latin crux ("cross, wooden frame for execution"), used figuratively for a point of torture, difficulty, or decision; borrowed into English in the early 18th century. Unlike "essence," which points to the intrinsic nature of a thing, or "dilemma," which traps one between two unappealing choices, the crux is the single pressure point where everything converges and everything hangs. It is the unseen fault in a faltering engine, the one unanswerable question that unravels an alibi, the exact word in a treaty upon which war or peace will turn—the weight of the world concentrated into a single, bearable point.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin crux (“a cross”).
name
- A distinctive winter constellation of the southern sky, shaped like a cross. It appears in the flags of several countries in Oceania.
noun
- The basic, central, or essential point or feature.e.g.“The crux of her argument was that the roadways needed repair before anything else could be accomplished.”
- The critical or transitional moment or issue, a turning point.
- A puzzle or difficulty.e.g.“What I have advanced upon this species of verse will contribute to solve a poetical problem, thrown out by Dryden as a crux to his brethren”
- The hardest point of a climb.e.g.“the real crux of the climb was encountered”
- A cross on a coat of arms.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.