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- pronunciation:
- ih
sen
sh
 l
- parts of speech:
- adjective, noun
- features:
- Word Combinations (adjective, noun), Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition 1: |
fundamental; necessary; indispensable.
Water and air are essential to life.
- synonyms:
- basic, fundamental, indispensable, necessary, vital
- antonyms:
- circumstantial, dispensable, expendable, incidental, inessential, nonessential, superfluous, unessential, unnecessary
- similar words:
- bottom, central, critical, crucial, imperative, integral, intrinsic, key, living, obligate, primary, prime, principal, real, requisite, staple
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| definition 2: |
of or pertaining to the essence or core; not reducible.
Forgiveness is an essential theme of the play.- synonyms:
- basic, fundamental, inherent, intrinsic, quintessential
- antonyms:
- accidental, adventitious, peripheral
- similar words:
- chief, distilled, key, main, principal, radical, real, substantial
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| related words: |
basic, cardinal, elementary, important, inherent, innate, intimate, organic, prerequisite, rudimentary, spiritual, stock, true |
adverb + (adj.)essential
absolutely, therefore
(adj.)essential
+ noun
acid,
amino,
aspect,
attribute,
characteristic,
commodity,
component,
conservation,
curriculum,
diagnosis,
dignity,
ecosystem,
element,
feature,
function,
functioning,
goodness,
habitat,
humanity,
infrastructure,
ingredient,
learning,
link,
maintenance,
mineral,
nature,
nutrient,
oil,
part,
prerequisite,
quality,
requirement,
role,
skill,
stability,
success,
survival,
tool,
trace,
trait,
understanding,
unity,
virtue,
vitamin,
well-being
[See all][See only the most frequent]
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| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
that which is absolutely necessary.
My salary is just enough to pay for my essentials, so I can't afford any luxuries.- synonyms:
- indispensable, necessary, necessity
- antonyms:
- inessential
- similar words:
- imperative, need, obligation, requirement, requisite
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| definition 2: |
that which is vital or basic.
I think I understood the essential points of his argument.- synonyms:
- base, basic, cornerstone, foundation, fundamental
- similar words:
- attribute, characteristic, crux, element, extract, primary, quality, rudiment, trait
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| related words: |
basic, basis, essence, ingredient, necessary, postulate, prerequisite, want |
adjective + (n.)essential
bare, basic, everyday, orthopaedic, sensitive
verb + (n.)essential
bare, combine, focus, grasp, lack, pack, pare, reduce, stock, strip
noun + (n.)essential
bag, beauty, camp, closet, clothing, core, essentials, gear, kit, kitchen, list, mask, pedicure, skin, travel, wardrobe
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| derivation: |
essentially (adv.) |
The word essential
contains the following part:
-al2, -ial, -ual
Latin
adjective-forming suffix
that means pertaining to
  More about this word part:
The suffix -al2, -ial
attaches primarily to nouns ( national
, environmental
) but sometimes to Latin or Greek roots ( final
, capital
, comical
) to form adjectives. See also -ar1.
Example words:
abnormal, accidental, additional, aerial, agricultural, ancestral, annual, arboreal, artificial, astral, bacterial, biblical, biographical, brutal, capital, central, ceremonial, chemical, classical, clinical, coastal, colonial, comical, commercial, confidential, constitutional, continental, continual, controversial, conventional, criminal, critical, crucial, cultural, cylindrical, dental, detrimental, developmental, economical, editorial, educational, electrical, emotional, environmental, essential, equal, exceptional, experimental, facial, factual, federal, final, financial, floral, fluvial, formal, functional, fundamental, general, global, grammatical, guttural, habitual, historical, hysterical, illogical, immoral, impersonal, impractical, individual, industrial, ineffectual, influential, internal, legal, local, logical, lyrical, magical, maniacal, mathematical, memorial, mental, moral, mortal, musical, mythical, national, natural, nautical, neutral, normal, official, parental, pastoral, personal, philosophical, plural, pluralism, pluralistic, political, potential, quizzical, racial, rational, regional, irrational, intellectual, rhythmical, sacrificial, seasonal, spinal, spiritual, technological, territorial, theatrical, thermal, tidal, traditional, tribal, typical, universal, unnatural, veridical, verbal, virtual, vocal, visual
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