the crux

noun

: the most important part of something (such as a problem, issue, puzzle, etc.)

—usually + of

The crux of the matter is that people are afraid of change.

It's taken a while to get to the crux of the problem, but I think I finally understand it.

Examples of the crux in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web This painful reality is the crux of Ten Fold, the fifth LP from versatile soul/pop artist Yaya Bey. —

Margaret Farrell, SPIN, 10 May 2024 And though this is the crux of what Regarding Her sets out to do, Milliken also makes a point to shed light on the unsustainable financial model of restaurants. —

Heather Platt, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2024 This is the crux of AI’s potential in behavioral and medical science. —

Svetlana Khachiyan, USA TODAY, 9 May 2024 This reflects changing attitudes about school farm programs — and that seems to be the crux of the opposition. —

Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 23 Apr. 2024 And that’s the crux of what makes early-stage investing—seed stage especially—unique. —

Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2024 And therein lies the crux, and the tension of the show. —

Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024 At the crux of the divide is Bristol Women’s Health, a clinic that opened on the Virginia side weeks before the Tennessee ban prompted a provider there to stop offering abortions. —

USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2024 At the crux of it is two aging wastewater plants on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border: the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant and the San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Plant. —

Lauren Fichten, CBS News, 15 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the crux.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.