crux

crux

noun

Definition of CRUX

the central part or aspect of something under consideration <the crux of the problem is that the school's current budget is totally inadequate>

Synonyms bottom line, bull's-eye, centerpiece, core, essence, gist, heart, kernel, keynote, meat, meat and potatoes, net, nub, nubbin, nucleus, pith, pivot, point, root, sum

Related Words course, direction, drift, tenor; body, content, substance; hypothesis, proposition, purport, subject, theme, thesis

Phrases sum and substance, the long and short (or the long and the short)