Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use pivotal in a sentence

24 example sentences · adjective

Pivotal means of, relating to, or being a pivot. Example: “The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.”

Examples of pivotal by meaning

adjectiveBeing of crucial importance; central, key.

  • "Crucially, HS2 is already playing a pivotal role in helping Britain's post-pandemic economic recovery.2021 January 13, “Packham initiates new petition opposing HS2”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 12

More sentences with pivotal

  • The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.From the entry act
  • The Oklahoma land rush was a pivotal event in the history of the American West.From the entry Oklahoma land rush
  • The three stories highlight pivotal moments in Coast Salish history and traditional practices.2024 December 5, Brendan Jure, “New graphic novel a love letter to Homalco First Nation culture and language”, in Nanaimo Bulletin. From the entry ayʔaǰuθɛm
  • It was a pivotal moment for us as yogurt makers, both emotionally and commercially.2008, Gary Hirshberg, “Nurturing Those Who Nurture the Earth”, in Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry yogurt maker
  • The six o′clock news was regarded as the pivotal point in the day.2006, Troy Bramston, The Wran Era, page 244. From the entry doorstop
  • And, as Bush learned painfully, there are plenty of McCainiacs in pivotal Michigan.2000 March 2, “After Primaries, Focus Turns to the Vice Presidential Slot”, in Philadelphia Inquirer, page A1. From the entry McCainiac
  • Well into his late teens his mother was the pivotal influence in his life.1954, Paul J. Moses, The Voice of Neurosis, Grune & Stratton, page 100. From the entry overintense
  • There’s always another nonfiction book around the corner, waiting to ambush us with facts both trivial and pivotal.2026 June 26, “The People Are Hungry for Learning”, in House Tour (Random House), archived from the original on 28 Aug 2026. From the entry knowledgemaxx
  • The TikTok algorithm plays a pivotal role in content distribution and user engagement on the For You Page (FYP).2025 April, Siti Khadijah Amir Hamzah, Ahlam Abdul Aziz, Shazleen Mohamed, “Behavioural influence of TikTok’s algorithm recommendations on…. From the entry fyp
  • His tireless dedication and energy were pivotal to Steve's career.2025, Francis M. Veraldi, Stephen M. Pescitelli, Philip W. Willink, Fishes of the Chicago Region, University of Chicago Press. From the entry Bilbo Baggins
  • Ellison will play a pivotal role in the case.2023 September 30, Victoria Bekiempis, “‘Dark’ donations, free love and the fall: the Sam Bankman-Fried trial is here”, in The Guardian…. From the entry tell-all
  • The individual and shared identity of khwaja siras is pivotal to studying why and how they are persecuted.2018 December 6, Arzu Güler, Maryna Shevtsova, Denise Venturi, LGBTI Asylum Seekers and Refugees from a Legal and Political Perspective…. From the entry khwaja sira
  • The disease that stood at the pivotal crossroads of oncology was yet another rare variant of leukemia called acute promyelocytic leukemia—APL.2010, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies, Fourth Estate (2011), page 407. From the entry APL
  • “Clarity” was a pivotal album for Jimmy Eat World, the first to feature Jim Adkins on lead vocals instead of Mr.2009 February 25, Nate Chinen, “Years Later, an Appeal to Heart and Head”, in New York Times. From the entry emocore
  • It is pivotal to Black privilege.2025, Marva McClean, Navigating Black Privilege Across the Globe (page 91). From the entry black privilege
  • I had sixteen nudity riders to sign and having Jean, our intimacy coordinator, Jean Franzblau, was absolutely pivotal to being able to do this.2023 July 10, 1:07:39 from the start, in The Making of IMMORTALITY. From the entry rider
  • The trequartista is the pivotal role in attack, though it is neither a striker nor a creator, per se, but three-quarters of both those positions.2013 April 16, Rob Hughes, “After 2 Decades of Creativity: Why Stop Now?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 06 Nov 2022. From the entry trequartista
  • The nose's comic potency is enhanced by the Indo-European rootedness of its own name, securing it a pivotal role in translingual games.1994, Cordner, Holland & Kerrigan, editor, English Comedy. From the entry translingual
  • The polygon advantageously is an isosceles trapezoid or rectangle with the pivotal connections between the deck or superstructure and four hulls respectively at its corners.1965 April 8, Newton B. Dismukes, “Multihull vessels (Patent US3316873A)”, in Google Patents. From the entry isosceles
  • Jolijo has helped review and select appointments to Jidada’s pivotal ministries, governorships, judgeships, top army ranks, and such positions as critical to the Seat of Power.2022, NoViolet Bulawayo, Glory, Chatto & Windus, page 256. From the entry judgeship
  • So does nonexercise activity, and so, according to a pivotal set of sweat studies done during World War II, does clothing, although not in the way one might predict.2007 August 14, Abigail Zuger, “Sweatology”, in New York Times. From the entry nonexercise
  • The Braves swept the Giants in that pivotal series, and starting with that series, the Giants have won just 13 out of 51 games against the Braves.1998 August 9, Jack K, “Mesa = GAS CAN”, in alt.sports.baseball.sf-giants (Usenet), retrieved 24 Sep 2016, message-ID…. From the entry ownage
  • One of the implicated is Lesley Ann Warren, a chain-smoking, feminist poet and bookshopkeeper who turns out to play a pivotal role in the murder mystery hounding Woods.1988 January 13, Variety’s® Film Reviews, volume 20 (1987–1988), New Providence, N.J.: R. R. Bowker, published 1991, →ISBN. From the entry bookshopkeeper

Meaning of pivotal

  1. adjective Of, relating to, or being a pivot.
  2. adjective Being of crucial importance; central, key.

Full definition of pivotal

Questions about pivotal in a sentence

How do you use pivotal in a sentence?
Pivotal is used as an adjective. For example: “The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.”
What is a short sentence with pivotal?
“It is pivotal to Black privilege.”
What does pivotal mean?
Pivotal means of, relating to, or being a pivot.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pivotal (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use pivotal in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/pivotal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.