Sample sentences for ESSENTIAL

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Definition

necessary or important or relating to the basic nature of something

essential = absolutely necessary; or of greatest importance

essential = necessary; or most important

the essentials of the good life
funds essential to the completion of the project
But as I see it, physical labor is as essential to him, as much a condition of his existence, as mental activity is to you or me.
Leo Tolstoy -- War and Peace

essential = necessary

He began telling her the story of his married life, but curiously enough she appeared to know the essential parts of it already.
George Orwell -- 1984

essential = basic (relating to the basic nature of something)

"We could be sort of... " Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind's essential illness.
William Golding -- Lord of the Flies

essential = basic (relating to the basic nature of something)

This, he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism.
George Orwell -- Animal Farm

essential = basic (relating to the basic nature of something)

And this commitment to charity reminds the cancer person of the essential goodness of humanity and makes him/her feel loved and encouraged because s/he will leave a cancer-curing legacy.
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

essential = basic (relating to the basic nature of something)

By design McCandless came into the country with insufficient provisions, and he lacked certain pieces of equipment deemed essential by many Alaskans: a large-caliber rifle, map and compass, an ax.
Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild

essential = necessary

When it is recalled that until the Christian era the underworld was never regarded as a hostile area, that all gods were useful and essentially friendly to man despite occasional lapses; ...
Arthur Miller -- The Crucible

essentially = basically (relating to the basic nature of something)

Most of the people on the night crew had not even been given spouses because they lacked, somehow, the essential capacity to connect to others, which was required for the creation of a family unit.
Lois Lowry -- The Giver

essential = necessary

Furthermore, I couldn't help noticing that my father had served for years in the state legislature, elected each time without opposition, innocent of the adjustments my teachers thought essential to the development of Good Citizenship.
Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird

essential = necessary

You weren't hurting anyone, you were hurting only things! And since things really couldn't be hurt, since things felt nothing, and things don't scream or whimper, as this woman might begin to scream and cry out, there was nothing to tease your conscience later. You were simply cleaning up. Janitorial work, essentially.
Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451

essentially = basically (relating to the basic nature of something)

The General was essentially a man of peace, except in his domestic life.
Oscar Wilde -- The Importance of Being Earnest

essentially = basically (relating to the basic nature of something)

Its essential nature, he pointed out, was an academic question.
Sinclair Lewis -- Arrowsmith

essential = basic (relating to the basic nature of something)

Meantime, you forget essential points in pursuing trifles: you do not inquire why Mr. Briggs sought after you — what he wanted with you.
Charlotte Bronte -- Jane Eyre

essential = important or necessary

The events were comparatively small, but the essential condition was there—namely, that they were in favor of his own ends.
George Eliot -- Middlemarch

essential = necessary

  Make you to ravel all this matter out,
  That I essentially am not in madness,
  But mad in craft.
William Shakespeare -- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

essentially = in all important respects

essential = necessary

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