crucial

Compared meaning: extremely important, essential (adjective).

比较义项：极其重要，不可或缺（形容词）。

• critical

  Critical often implies that without this thing, something bad, dangerous, or fatal could happen; common with health, safety, and survival.

  critical 常暗示如果缺少这件事，可能会带来严重的、甚至危险的后果；常与健康、安全、生存等词搭配使用。

  Clean water is critical for people's health and survival.

  干净的水对人类的健康和生存至关重要。

• crucial 本词

  Crucial is a more neutral way to say something is extremely important or decisive, without necessarily implying danger; often used for decisions, roles, or factors leading to success.

  crucial 语气更中性，表示某事极其重要或起决定性作用，但不一定暗示危险；常用于描述决定、角色或导致成功的因素。

  Sleep is crucial for staying healthy and focused.

  睡眠对保持健康和专注至关重要。

• pivotal

  Pivotal highlights that something is the central point other things depend on or turn around, often describing a moment, role, or decision rather than a physical need like health.

  pivotal 强调某事物是其他事物所依赖或围绕转动的核心点，常用于描述某个时刻、角色或决定，而不是像健康这样的生理需求。

  That meeting was pivotal in deciding the company's future plans.

  那次会议对决定公司的未来计划起到了关键性的作用。

Critical, crucial, and pivotal all mean extremely important. Critical implies that without this thing, something bad could happen. Crucial means very important. Pivotal means the central point other things depend on. Critical's 'fault-finding' sense and pivotal's 'turning on a pivot' sense are not compared.

这三个词在此义项上都表示“极其重要”，但语气和使用场合略有不同：critical 常暗示缺少此事物会带来严重甚至危险的后果，crucial 语气更中性，强调对结果起决定性作用而不一定涉及危险，pivotal 则强调该事物是其他事情所依赖或围绕的核心、转折点。这里不比较 critical 表示“批评的、挑剔的”这一义项，也不比较 pivotal 表示“在枢轴上转动的”这一字面义项。