How to Use pivotal in a Sentence

pivotal

adjective
  • She is at a pivotal point in her career.
  • Wilson points to the 1330s as the pivotal decade of change.
    Ana María Velasco, National Geographic, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Her monologue is a pivotal moment, and one of the film’s best.
    Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 28 July 2023
  • Week 1 of the season is a pivotal one for the conference.
    Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 28 Aug. 2023
  • That was a pivotal moment for Tim — an epiphany for him.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 18 Dec. 2023
  • In this case, the Sox lamented pivotal instances when the ball didn’t roll at all.
    Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 22 July 2023
  • The Bible plays a pivotal role, with its promise of the land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham.
    Maeghan Dolph, Fox News, 12 Oct. 2023
  • The Kings fell in Phoenix in pivotal game on a few different fronts.
    Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Andrew Iverson is the right man for the job in this pivotal election.
    Jessie Opoien, Journal Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2024
  • The trade deadline will be pivotal to the remaining stretch of the season.
    James O'Connell, New York Daily News, 19 July 2024
  • Which is good news, since tech is pivotal to the state’s economy.
    Larry Edelman, BostonGlobe.com, 12 May 2023
  • The trade deadline, a pivotal AL East series and a reunion.
    Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 31 July 2023
  • The chop marked a pivotal moment in both the model's career and the Mod era in general.
    Tish Weinstock, Vogue, 3 Oct. 2023
  • That bond is a pivotal part of the Fresh Prince storyline, and Bel-Air leans into it as well.
    Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 7 Apr. 2023
  • Michael Massey and Maikel Garcia hit pivotal home runs in the sixth inning, with Massey drilling a two-run shot over the right-field wall.
    Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 18 May 2024
  • The track plays at a pivotal moment in the movie when Barbie questions what her purpose is.
    Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024
  • Here are some of the pivotal moments in the conflict leading up to the counteroffensive.
    Sammy Westfall, Washington Post, 9 June 2023
  • But inside were portraits of moments that are pivotal to him from his time in school.
    Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 26 Apr. 2024
  • Hintz scored the pivotal, opening goal in Game 7 Monday night on a breakaway.
    Joey Hayden, Dallas News, 18 May 2023
  • One pivotal scene involved shaving Gordon-Levitt’s head, which the team had one chance to nail.
    Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Sep. 2023
  • The counteroffensive stands to mark a pivotal moment in the nearly 16-month war.
    Yasmeen Serhan, Time, 6 June 2023
  • In the last four years, the 20-year-old St. Paul, Minnesota, native has faced many pivotal moments.
    Christine Yu, SELF, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Rightly or wrongly, the AI chip king’s report on Aug. 28 will be viewed as a pivotal event for the market.
    Morgan Chittum,kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Strength in the face of adversity remains pivotal to the Gullah Geechee way of life.
    Sara Novak, Scientific American, 6 Apr. 2023
  • What happened next marked a pivotal moment for that man, whose name is Kevin Ross, and for Cavallero.
    Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2024
  • Among its 60 exhibits is one about the pivotal World War II battle for which the carrier is named.
    John Wilkens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 June 2023
  • It’s been a great run for me and my family, and it’s been a pivotal time for business in Dallas-Fort Worth and Texas.
    Mitchell Schnurman, Dallas News, 7 Apr. 2023
  • Terry’s pivotal pitch wasn’t a miss by the freshman, Inouye-Perez said.
    Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2024
  • Scott is a seven-time Daytime Emmy winner who has played a pivotal role in the development of the soap opera genre for nearly five decades.
    Lynette Rice, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Opinion This term, the court is expected to weigh in on three pivotal cases that could ensure democratic accountability.
    Devin Watkins, Twin Cities, 4 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pivotal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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