Example
crucial (adjective)
Extremely important because the outcome depends on it.
Early diagnosis is crucial to the successful treatment of many diseases.
Written by Fizza Butool Zaidi and Ali Zaidi
14 alternatives
Extremely important because the outcome depends on it.
Early diagnosis is crucial to the successful treatment of many diseases.
Absolutely necessary; you cannot do without it.
A reliable internet connection is now essential for remote study.
Don't swap blindly: Stronger than important: it means necessary. 'Hobbies are essential' claims more than 'hobbies are important'.
Necessary for something to succeed or survive.
Public libraries play a vital role in giving everyone access to information.
Large enough to have an effect or matter.
Social media has had a significant influence on how young people form opinions.
Main or most important; used before a noun.
Cost is a key factor in whether families choose public transport.
Don't swap blindly: Only before a noun in formal writing. 'This is key' is informal.
Large and serious; used before a noun.
Air pollution is a major cause of breathing problems in cities.
Basic and underlying everything else.
Access to clean water is a fundamental human need.
At the heart of an issue; used with 'to'.
Trust between teachers and parents is central to a child's progress.
So useful that you cannot manage without it.
For many small businesses, online marketing has become indispensable.
Urgent and needing attention now.
Affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues facing young adults.
Don't swap blindly: Only with problems, issues and needs. A 'pressing benefit' is wrong.
Useful or worth having.
Volunteering gives teenagers valuable experience of work.
Don't swap blindly: It is about usefulness, not urgency or necessity.
More important than anything else. Very formal.
In medical care, patient safety is of paramount importance.
Don't swap blindly: Use it once at most; repeated, it sounds memorised.
Be important; lets you change the sentence structure.
What matters most to employers is not the degree but the skills behind it.
Informal; something that is treated as important.
Exams are a really big deal in my country, so students study very hard.
Don't swap blindly: Never in Task 2; too informal.
Paraphrasing
Band tip: the public IELTS Writing band descriptors for Lexical Resource describe Band 7 as using “less common lexical items” with “some awareness of style and collocation”. A synonym that changes your meaning or breaks a collocation works against you, so choose the word that fits the sentence, not the rarest one you know.
In context
Managing money is a fundamental life skill, yet many young adults leave school without it. Understanding interest and debt is crucial when students take out their first loans, and the cost of a poor decision at this stage can last for years. For this reason, I believe basic financial education plays a vital role in preparing teenagers for independent life.
Crucial, vital, significant, fundamental and essential are all formal. Choose by meaning: essential means necessary, crucial means the outcome depends on it, fundamental means basic.
No. Crucial, essential and vital already mean extremely important, so 'very' is redundant. Use 'absolutely essential' only in speech for emphasis.
Yes, before a noun: 'a key factor', 'a key reason'. Using it as an adjective after the verb ('This is key') is informal.
Not by itself. The band descriptors reward precise and natural use. 'Of paramount importance' is correct, but used in every essay it reads as memorised.
Practise
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