essential
Necessary.
Adjective 4 meanings
Necessary.
Very important; of high importance.
“I see it as essential that there should be somewhere to park.”
Necessary for survival but not synthesized by the organism, thus needing to be ingested.
Being in the basic form; showing its essence.
“Don’t mind him being grumpy. That’s the essential Fred.”
Noun 2 meanings
A necessary ingredient.
A fundamental ingredient.
Etymology
From Late Latin essentiālis, from Latin essentia (“being, essence”).
Similar and opposite words
ESSENTIAL at a glance
ESSENTIAL has 9 letters and scores 9 points in Scrabble (E 1 + S 1 + S 1 + E 1 + N 1 + T 1 + I 1 + A 1 + L 1) and 11 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,385 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with essential
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