essential

essential adj

1 inherent, intrinsic, constitutional, ingrained

Analogous words: *innate, inborn, inbred, congenital: inner, inward: elemental (see ELEMENTARY): *characteristic, individual, peculiar, distinctive

Antonyms: accidental

Contrasted words: adventitious, fortuitous, incidental (see ACCIDENTAL): contingent, *dependent, con-ditional

2 Essential, fundamental, vital, cardinal mean so important as to be indispensable.

Something is essential which belongs to the very nature or essence of a thing and which therefore cannot be removed without destroying the thing itself or its distinguishing character

{

the essential doctrines of Christianity

}

{

the essential ingredient in a medicine

}

{

the most essential characteristic of mind is memory— Russell

}

Something is fundamental upon which everything else in a system, institution, or construction is built up, by which the whole is supported, or from which each addition is derived and without which, therefore, the whole construction would topple down

{

certainly all those who have framed written constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation— John Marshall

}

{

the power of concentrated attention as the fundamental source of the prodigious productiveness of great workers— Eliot

}

Something is vital which is as necessary to a thing's existence, continued vigor, or efficiency as food, drink, and health are to living things

{

a question the solution of which is vital to human happiness

}

{

the vital interests of a people

}

{

the capture of the fortified town was vital to the invaders

}

{

Germany is extremely important to Russia, but Poland, the gateway of invasion, is vital— Hartmann

}

Something is cardinal upon which something else turns or hinges or actively depends; thus, the cardinal virtues (prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice, and sometimes, patience and humility) are not, in Christian theology, the highest virtues (which are the Christian virtues faith, hope, and charity), but they are fundamental and without them moral progress would be impossible

{

cardinal arguments in a brief

}

{

the cardinal defects in a character

}

{

cardinal events are not to be forgotten— De Quincey

}

{

I repeat this sentence, with emphasis on its cardinal words— Darrow

}

Analogous words: basic, basal, underlying, *fundamental: principal, foremost, capital, *chief, main, leading: prime, *primary, primal

Contrasted words: *subordinate, secondary, dependent: *auxiliary, subsidiary, accessory, contributory, subservient

3 indispensable, requisite, necessary, *needful

Analogous words: required, needed, wanted (see LACK vb)

Antonyms: nonessential