essential
So important that you cannot manage without it.
essential in a sentence
- Water is essential for the hike, so pack your bottle before anything else.
- A torch is essential for the cave tour, because it is pitch black inside.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to essential?
- Aoptional
- Bneedless
- Cvital
- Dextra
Show the answer
C: vital. The other three mean the opposite of essential.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to essential?
- Avital
- Bneedless
- Cneeded
- Dkey
Show the answer
B: needless. The other three mean nearly the same as essential.
Words that mean something similar
vital, needed, key
Words that mean the opposite
needless, extra, optional
More words about thinking & learning
- establish: To set something up, or to prove that something is true.
- evaluate: To think carefully about how good or useful something is.
- evident: Easy to see or understand.
- fable: A short story, often about animals, that teaches a lesson.
- fathom: To understand something after thinking about it very hard.
- foresee: To know something will happen before it actually does.
- fundamental: Forming the most important base of something.
- heed: To pay careful attention to advice or a warning.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test