Synonyms for essential
- adjective
- noun
Most common
vital important crucial critical fundamental basic indispensable
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Vital — very important; of high importance
vital, important, crucial, critical, key, all-important, paramount, substantial, of the essence, pivotal, main, life-and-death, central, material, leading, big, capital, principal dated
2. Fundamental — being in the basic form; showing its essence
fundamental, basic, integral, intrinsic, natural, inherent, pure, pyore US, radical, organic, real, staple, innate, constituent, rudimentary, constitutive, constitutional, elemental, elementary, immanent, bare, ingrained, inborn
3. Indispensable — necessary
indispensable, necessary, requisite, prerequisite, required, needed, needful, much-needed, necessitous rare
Other
Noun
1. Necessity
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Necessary.
- adj. 2
Very important; of high importance.
I see it as essential that there should be somewhere to park.
- adj. 3
Being in the basic form; showing its essence.
Don’t mind him being grumpy. That’s the essential Fred.
- n. 1
A necessary ingredient.
Related words
- Word family
- essentiality essentially essentialness essentials essence
- Phrases
- essential clause essential worker
Forms
- Plural
- essentials → necessities, requirements, must-haves, substances…
Choose the right word
An essential is something, as a quality, or element, that belongs to the essence of something else so as to be inseparable from it in its normal condition, or in any complete idea or statement of it.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- key I left a duplicate key to the room with my mother.
- critical I can't understand why you are so critical of him.
- vital International trade is vital for healthy economies.
- crucial Past papers are crucial for good exam preparation.
- basic That game is easy, once you learn the basic rules.
- fundamental To keep early hours is fundamental to good health.
By length
- 3 letters
- big1, key1
- 4 letters
- real1, main1, pure1, bare1
- 5 letters
- basic2, vital2, pyore
- 6 letters
- needed2, staple2, innate2, inborn2
- 7 letters
- central2, natural3, leading2, capital3, organic3, crucial2, radical3, virtual3, pivotal3, needful2
- 8 letters
- material4, required3, critical3, integral3, inherent3, immanent3
- 9 letters
- important3, necessary4, principal3, substance2, necessity4, paramount3, intrinsic3, elemental4, requisite3, ingrained2
- 10 letters
- elementary4, idiopathic5
- 11 letters
- substantial3, fundamental4, requirement3, constituent4, substantive3, rudimentary5, desideratum, necessitous
- 12 letters
- prerequisite4, constitutive4
- 13 letters
- indispensable5
- 14 letters
- constitutional5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (basic2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- essentiel
- Italiano
- essenziale
- Español
- esencial
- Deutsch
- essentiell
- Català
- essencial