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| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | heart, significance |
| Synonyms: | aspect, attribute, backbone, base, basis, be-all and end-all, being, bottom, bottom line, burden, caliber, character, chief constituent, constitution, core, crux, element, entity, essentia, essentiality, fiber, form, fundamentals, germ, grain, kernel, life, lifeblood, main idea, marrow, meaning, meat*, name of game, nature, nitty-gritty, nub, nucleus, pith, point, principle, property, quality, quiddity, quintessence, reality, root, soul, spirit, structure, stuff, substance, timber, vein, virtuality |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | joint |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | intersection, juncture |
| Synonyms: | abutment, articulation, bend, bond, bracket, bridge, concourse, confluence, conjuncture, connection, copula, coupling, crux, elbow, hinge, hyphen, impingement, interconnection, junction, knot, link, meeting, nexus, node, point, seam, splice, suture, swivel, tangency, tie, union, vinculum |
| Main Entry: | juncture |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | turning point |
| Synonyms: | choice, circumstance, condition, contingency, crisis, crossroad, crux, emergency, exigency, instant, meeting point, moment, occasion, pass, pinch, plight, point, position, posture, predicament, quandary, state, status, strait, time, zero hour |
| Notes: | junction means the place where two or more things come together while juncture means an event that occurs at a critical time or point in time when a critical decision must be made |
| Main Entry: | kernel |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | seed, essence |
| Synonyms: | atom, bit, center, core, crux, fruit, germ, gist, grain, heart, hub, keynote, marrow, matter, meat, morsel, nub, nubbin, nut, part, piece, pith, root, substance, upshot |
| Notes: | a kernel is the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain, while a colonel is a commissioned military rank |
| Main Entry: | key |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | answer, solution |
| Synonyms: | blueprint, brand, cipher, clue, code, core, crux, cue, earmark, explanation, fulcrum, guide, hinge, index, indicator, interpretation, lead, lever, marker, means, nexus, nucleus, passport, password, pivot, pointer, root, sign, symptom, ticket, translation |
| Antonyms: | question |
| Main Entry: | keynote/keystone |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | essence, theme |
| Synonyms: | basic idea, basis, center, core, cornerstone, criterion, crux, gist, heart, idea, kernel, linchpin, mainspring, marrow, measure, motive, nub, pith, principle, root, source, spring, standard, substance |
| Main Entry: | mystery |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | puzzle, secret |
| Synonyms: | abstruseness, brainteaser, braintwister, charade, chiller, cliffhanger, closed book, conundrum, crux, cryptogram, difficulty, enigma, grabber, inscrutability, inscrutableness, mindboggler, mystification, occult, oracle, perplexity, poser, problem, puzzlement, question, rebus, riddle, rune, secrecy, sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, sphinx, stickler, stumper, subtlety, teaser, thriller, tough nut to crack, twister, whodunit, why* |
| Antonyms: | known, understanding |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | nub |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | core, gist |
| Synonyms: | basic, bottom line, crux, essence, heart*, kernel, meat and potatoes, meat*, nitty-gritty, nubbin, nucleus, pith, point, short, substance, upshot |
| Antonyms: | exterior, outside |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | nucleus |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | core; basis for something's |
| Synonyms: | beginning bud, center, crux, embryo, focus, foundation, germ, heart, hub, kernel, matter, nub, pivot, premise, principle, seed, spark |
| Antonyms: | exterior, exteriority, outside |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
