English Explanatory Dictionary

essential

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Necessary.
  2. Very important; of high importance.
  3. Necessary for survival but not synthesized by the organism, thus needing to be ingested.
  4. Being in the basic form; showing its essence.
  5. Really existing; existent.
  6. Such that each complementary region is irreducible, the boundary of each complementary region is incompressible by disks and monogons in the complementary region, and no leaf is a sphere or a torus bounding a solid torus in the manifold.
  7. Idiopathic.
  8. Having the nature of essence; not physical.
noun
  1. A necessary ingredient.
  2. A fundamental ingredient.

Pronunciation

/ɪˈsɛn.ʃəl/ /əˈsɛn.tʃəl/ en-us-essential.ogg

Word forms

essential more essential most essential essentiall essentials

Etymology

From Late Latin essentiālis, from Latin essentia (“being, essence”).

Synonyms

indispensable basic essential necessar necessary needed prerequisite required requisite crucial big central consequential critical epochful extraordinary fateful fatefraught fatesome heavy pivotal high on the totem pole historic innegligible key life-or-death meaningful noted noticeable observable outstanding paramount pertinent relevant remarkable salient significant unignorable valuable vital weighty built-in immanent inborn resident inbuilt infused ingrained inherent integral intrinsic inwrought radical austere bare bare-bones bargain cheap default discreet

Antonyms

inessential unessential non-essential nonessential accidental accessorial incidental unnecessary unneeded unimportant base contemptible floccinaucinihilipilificatious foolish for the birds futile frivolous idle ignorable immaterial inconsequential inconsiderable indifferent insignificant like a fart in a windstorm meager mean minor miserable negligible nothingburger nondescript null paltry petty picayune picayunish piddling piddly pissant pissass piteous pitiful pointless silly simple slight ticky-tacky tin-pot trifling trivial two-bit unweighty vain worthless wretched adscititious external extraneous extrinsic

Related words

essentials essence

Derived words

bioessential coessential essential amino acid essential clause essential fatty acid essential infimum essentialism essentialist essentiality essentialization essentialize essentially essential mesh essentialness essential nutrient essential oil essential prime implicant essential property essential salt essential supremum essential thrombocythemia essential tremor essential worker non-essential amino acid non-essential prime implicant quasiessential quintessential semiessential subessential superessential
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