Noun | 1. | essential - 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" Antonyms: inessential, nonessential - anything that is not essential; "they discarded all their inessentials" |
Adj. | 1. | essential - absolutely necessary; vitally necessary; "essential tools and materials"; "funds essential to the completion of the project"; "an indispensable worker" Synonyms: indispensable |
2. | essential - basic and fundamental; "the essential feature" Antonyms: inessential, unessential - not basic or fundamental | |
3. | essential - of the greatest importance; "the all-important subject of disarmament"; "crucial information"; "in chess cool nerves are of the essence" | |
4. | essential - being or relating to or containing the essence of a plant etc; "essential oil" | |
5. | essential - applying to essential legal principles and rules of right; "substantive law" Synonyms: substantive | |
6. | essential - absolutely required and not to be used up or sacrificed |