When you send a telegram, brevity is essential because you will be charged for every word.
Source: tatoeba (1906)
Essential
//ɪˈsɛn.ʃəl//
Synonyms for "essential" (318 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (64)
Strong matches (95)
Adjective(34 words)
effectiveelementelementalelementaryelixiressenceessential factsessential matteressentialsexistentfatalfirstflowerfocalfocusforemostfunctionalfundamentalgistgravamen
Show 40 more words
great pointguthearthigh pointhomelyhomespunhomogeneoushypostasisimperativeimportantimportant thinginborninbredindicatedindivisibleindwellinginnateinnerinner essenceintimateintrinsicirreducibleirreductibleirreplaceableissuekernelkeykeystonelandmarkleadinglife sustaininglife-and-deathlife-or-deathliteralmainmain pointmain thingmandatorymarrowmaterial
Adjective(1 words)
Related words (159)
material pointmeatmeremilestoneminimalmonolithicmust itemname of the gamenaturalnecessariesnecessarynecessitiesnecessitousneedneed forneededneedfulnitty grittyno frillsnub
Show 88 more words
nucleusnuts and boltsobligatoryoccasionof a pieceof essenceof the essenceof vital importanceorganicoriginalpart and parcelpithpivotplainpointpostulatepreparatoryprerequirementprerequisiteprimalprimaryprimeprimitiveprincipalprinciplepurepure and simplequidquiddityquintessencequintessentialradicalrealreal issuerequiredrequirementrequisiterequisitionright-handrootedrudimentrudimentarysalient pointsapseveresimon puresimon-puresimplesine qua nonsinglesoulsparespiritstaplestarkstipulationstuffsubstancesubstantive pointthe bottom linethe datathe detailsthe dopethe factsthe informationthe necessarythe needfulthe nitty-grittythe particularsthe picturethe pointthe scoopthe scorethe specificsthe whole storyturning pointultimateunadornedunclutteredunderlyingundifferencedundifferentiatedunforgoableuniformvirtualvitalwantwanted
Adjective(44 words)
Noun(5 words)
Adjective(2 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
1 entriesAntonyms
6 entriesSynonyms
6 entriesRelated terms
2 entriesderived
29 entriesShowing 16 of 29 words.
has context
2 entriesrelated to
26 entriesShowing 16 of 26 words.
similar
30 entriesShowing 16 of 30 words.
Translations
155 translations across 40 languages.
Azerbaijani
4 entries- labüd adj (necessary)
- vacib adj (necessary)
- vacib adj (of high importance)
- zəruri adj (necessary)
Belarusian
3 entries- ва́жны adj (of high importance)
- неабхо́дны adj (necessary)
- істо́тны adj (of high importance)
Bengali
4 entries- অতি জরুরি adj (of high importance)
- দরকার adj (necessary)
- প্রয়োজন adj (necessary)
- ফরজ adj (necessary)
Bulgarian
4 entries- ва́жен adj (of high importance)
- необходи́м adj (necessary)
- осно́вен adj (in basic form)
- съще́ствен adj (of high importance)
Catalan
3 entries- essencial adj (necessary)
- essencial adj (of high importance)
- essencial adj (in basic form)
Chinese Mandarin
4 entries- 不可缺的 adj (necessary)
- 切要 adj (of high importance)
- 必備 /必备 adj (necessary)
- 必要 adj (necessary)
Czech
4 entries- esenciální adj (necessary)
- esenciální adj (of high importance)
- hlavní adj (of high importance)
- nejdůležitější adj (of high importance)
Danish
1 entries- essentiel adj (needing to be ingested)
Dutch
4 entries- belangrijk adj (of high importance)
- echt adj (in basic form)
- essentieel adj (necessary)
- essentieel adj (of high importance)
Eastern Mari
2 entries- тӱҥ adj (necessary)
- тӱҥ adj (of high importance)
Esperanto
1 entries- esenca adj (necessary)
Estonian
2 entries- oluline adj (of high importance)
- vajalik adj (necessary)
Finnish
4 entries- elintärkeä adj (of high importance)
- normaali adj (in basic form)
- oleellinen adj (of high importance)
- olennainen adj (necessary)
French
3 entries- essentiel adj (in basic form)
- fondamental adj (in basic form)
- indispensable adj (of high importance)
Galician
1 entries- esencial adj (necessary)
Georgian
4 entries- არსებითი adj (necessary)
- არსებითი adj (of high importance)
- აუცილებელი adj (necessary)
- აუცილებელი adj (of high importance)
German
4 entries- essenziell adj (necessary)
- notwendig adj (necessary)
- unentbehrlich adj (of high importance)
- unverzichtbar adj (necessary)
Greek
4 entries- ουσιαστικός noun (necessary ingredient)
- ουσιαστικός noun (fundamental ingredient)
- ουσιώδης noun (necessary ingredient)
- ουσιώδης noun (fundamental ingredient)
Ido
1 entries- esencala adj (of high importance)
Indonesian
4 entries- esensial adj (necessary)
- esensial adj (of high importance)
- esensial adj (needing to be ingested)
- esensial adj (in basic form)
Irish
1 entries- riachtanach adj (necessary)
Italian
4 entries- essenziale adj (of high importance)
- essenziale adj (in basic form)
- fondamentale adj (of high importance)
- indispensabile adj (necessary)
Japanese
3 entries- 不可欠な adj (necessary)
- 肝心な adj (in basic form)
- 肝要 adj (of high importance)
Korean
1 entries- 필수적인 adj (necessary)
Maltese
3 entries- essenzjali adj (necessary)
- essenzjali adj (of high importance)
- essenzjali adj (in basic form)
Māori
1 entries- waiwai adj (of high importance)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- essensiell adj (necessary)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- essensiell adj (necessary)
Polish
3 entries- niezbędny adj (necessary)
- podstawowy adj (in basic form)
- zasadniczy adj (of high importance)
Portuguese
4 entries- essencial adj (necessary)
- essencial adj (of high importance)
- essencial adj (in basic form)
- fundamental adj (in basic form)
Romanian
4 entries- de bază adj (in basic form)
- esențial adj (of high importance)
- fundamental adj (in basic form)
- important adj (of high importance)
Russian
4 entries- ба́зовый adj (in basic form)
- ва́жный adj (of high importance)
- необходи́мый adj (necessary)
- основно́й adj (in basic form)
Scottish Gaelic
4 entries- deatamach adj (necessary)
- deatamach adj (of high importance)
- riatanach adj (necessary)
- riatanach adj (of high importance)
Slovak
4 entries- esenciálny adj (needing to be ingested)
- kľúčový adj (of high importance)
- nutný adj (necessary)
- esencia noun (necessary ingredient)
Slovene
3 entries- bistven adj (necessary)
- bistven adj (of high importance)
- nujen adj (necessary)
Spanish
1 entries- esencial adj (necessary)
Swedish
2 entries- essentiell adj (of high importance)
- nödvändig adj (necessary)
Tamil
2 entries- அவசியமான adj (necessary)
- இன்றியமையாத adj (of high importance)
Ukrainian
4 entries- важли́вий adj (of high importance)
- необхі́дний adj (necessary)
- основни́й adj (in basic form)
- істо́тний adj (of high importance)
Welsh
2 entries- angenrheidiol adj (necessary)
- hanfodol adj (of high importance)
Sample sentences
17 total sentences available.
Fruits and vegetables are essential to a balanced diet.
Source: tatoeba (2187)
Diligence is essential to success in life.
Source: tatoeba (18836)
Patience is essential for a teacher.
Source: tatoeba (19071)
Showing 4 of 17 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.