English adjective: essential | |||
1. | essential absolutely necessary; vitally necessary | ||
Samples | Essential tools and materials. Funds essential to the completion of the project. An indispensable worker. | ||
Synonyms | indispensable | ||
Similar | necessary | ||
Antonyms | unnecessary, unneeded | ||
2. | essential basic and fundamental | ||
Samples | The essential feature. | ||
Similar | basal, biogenic, constituent, constitutional, constitutive, life-sustaining, must, no-frills, organic, primary, staple, substantial, substantive, virtual, vital | ||
See also | crucial, important, important, indispensable, intrinsic, intrinsical, necessary, of import, primary, unexpendable | ||
Attribute | essentiality, essentialness | ||
Antonyms | inessential, unessential | ||
3. | essential of the greatest importance | ||
Samples | The all-important subject of disarmament. Crucial information. In chess cool nerves are of the essence. | ||
Synonyms | all important, all-important, crucial, of the essence | ||
Similar | important, of import | ||
Antonyms | unimportant | ||
4. | essential being or relating to or containing the essence of a plant etc | ||
Samples | Essential oil. | ||
5. | essential defining rights and duties as opposed to giving the rules by which rights and duties are established | ||
Samples | Substantive law. | ||
Synonyms | substantive | ||
Domain category | jurisprudence, law | ||
Antonyms | adjective, procedural | ||
English noun: essential | |||
1. | essential (object) anything indispensable | ||
Samples | Food and shelter are necessities of life. The essentials of the good life. Allow farmers to buy their requirements under favorable conditions. A place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained. | ||
Synonyms | necessary, necessity, requirement, requisite | ||
Broader (hypernym) | thing | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | desideratum, must, need, want | ||
Antonyms | inessential, nonessential | ||