anything indispensable; "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"
Used in a Sentence
essential
How to use essential in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for essential.
Editorial note
His essential mistake IMO was launching too late.
Examples10
Definitions6
Parts of speech2
Quick take
anything indispensable; "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"
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of essential gathered in one view.
absolutely necessary; vitally necessary; "essential tools and materials"; "funds essential to the completion of the project"; "an indispensable worker"
basic and fundamental; "the essential feature"
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for essential.
noun
anything indispensable; "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"
See also: necessity, requirement, requisite, necessary
adjective
absolutely necessary; vitally necessary; "essential tools and materials"; "funds essential to the completion of the project"; "an indispensable worker"
See also: indispensable
adjective
basic and fundamental; "the essential feature"
adjective
of the greatest importance; "the all-important subject of disarmament"; "crucial information"; "in chess cool nerves are of the essence"
See also: crucial
adjective
being or relating to or containing the essence of a plant etc; "essential oil"
adjective
defining rights and duties as opposed to giving the rules by which rights and duties are established; "substantive law"
See also: substantive
Example sentences
His essential mistake IMO was launching too late.
They should spin off the rest and focus on GTK, the Shell, and a small number of essential utilities.
In some cases it may prevent you learning essential lessons and hinder your improvement.
In your case, it is essential that you have medical intervention while you detox.
Keeping the web platform based on open standards is essential to keep it open to new browsers and technologies.
"The venue error in this case is not harmless \nbecause there was no evidence that any of the essential \nconduct elements occurred in New Jersey.
" The absolutely essential thing to keep in mind is to say nothing of substance about the matter under investigation.
A task that specialists have so far failed at.> "I read a textbook on physiological chemistry and took to the internet to see if I could find every known essential nutrient.
If the W3C and Apple can't work out a royalty-free licensing arrangement for Apple's essential claims, then this seems very likely to fragment the mobile web even further by creating yet more "works only in Safari" pages.
Sometimes this happens because of unequal bargaining power, where a big company essentially presents a host of oppressive boilerplate terms and conditions as "take-it-or-leave-it" items.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use essential in a sentence?
His essential mistake IMO was launching too late.
What does essential mean?
anything indispensable; "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"
What part of speech is essential?
essential is commonly used as noun, adjective.