| Pivotal (a.) Of or pertaining to a pivot or turning point; belonging to, or constituting, a pivot; of the nature of a pivot; as, the pivotal opportunity of a career; the pivotal position in a battle. Thesaurus Entries acute, axial, behind the scenes, capital, cardinal, causal, causative, centermost, central, centralized, centric, centroidal, centrosymmetric, charged, clamorous, climacteric, compelling, concentrated, constitutive, critical, crucial, crying, decisive, determinative, effectual, emergent, essential, etiological, exigent, focal, formative, geocentric, high-pressure, high-priority, imperative, imperious, important, insistent, instant, institutive, kairotic, key, loaded, middle, middlemost, midmost, momentous, occasional, omphalic, originative, overriding, overruling, pregnant, pressing, principal, radical, ruling, significant, umbilical, urgent, vital |