| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | fundamental part |
| Synonyms: | authority, backbone, basis, chief constituent, core, essence, essential, evidence, foundation, fundamental, groundwork, heart, important part, infrastructure, key, origin, primary element, principal, principle, root, source, underpinning |
| Main Entry: | belief |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | something regarded as true |
| Synonyms: | assumption, concept, credence, credo, creed, doctrine, dogma, faith, fundamental, gospel, gospel truth, hypothesis, idea, ideology, law, opinion, postulate, precept, principle, say-so, tenet, theorem, theory |
| Antonyms: | disbelief, nonbelief |
| Main Entry: | doctrine |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | opinion; principle |
| Synonyms: | article, article of faith, attitude, axiom, basic, belief, canon, concept, convention, conviction, credenda, creed, declaration, dogma, fundamental, gospel, implantation, inculcation, indoctrination, instruction, position, precept, pronouncement, propaganda, proposition, regulation, rule, statement, teaching, tenet, tradition, universal law, unwritten rule |
| Antonyms: | disbelief, heterodoxy, skepticism, unbelief |
| Main Entry: | element |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | essential feature |
| Synonyms: | aspect, basic, basis, bit, component, constituent, detail, drop, facet, factor, fundamental, hint, ingredient, item, material, matter, member, part, particle, particular, piece, portion, principle, root, section, stem, subdivision, trace, unit, view |
| Main Entry: | essential |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | necessity, basic |
| Synonyms: | ABCs, bottom line, brass tacks, condition, element, essence, fire and ice, fundamental, groceries, guts*, heart, meat and potatoes, must, name of the game, nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts, part and parcel, precondition, prerequisite, principle, quintessence, requirement, requisite, rudiment, sine qua non, stuff, substance, vital part, where one's at |
| Notes: | the words crucial, essential, and vital cannot be qualified (cannot be more or less...) |
| Antonyms: | accessory, auxiliary, nonessential, subsidiary, throwaway, trivia |
| Main Entry: | ingredient |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | component of concoction |
| Synonyms: | additive, constituent, element, factor, fixing, fundamental, innards, integral, integrant, making, part, part and parcel, piece |
| Antonyms: | whole |
| Main Entry: | law |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | standard, principle of behavior |
| Synonyms: | assumption, axiom, base, canon, cause, criterion, exigency, formula, foundation, fundamental, generalization, ground, guide, maxim, origin, postulate, precept, principium, proposal, proposition, reason, regulation, rule, source, theorem, truth, usage |
| Antonyms: | transgression, violation |
| Main Entry: | must |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | necessity, essential |
| Synonyms: | charge, commitment, committal, condition, devoir, duty, fundamental, imperative, necessary, need, obligation, ought, precondition, prerequisite, requirement, requisite, right, sine qua non |
| Main Entry: | necessity |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | need, essentiality |
| Synonyms: | call, cause, claim, compulsion, demand, desideratum, duress, essence, essential, exaction, exigency, fundamental, godsend, imperative, indispensability, inevitability, inexorableness, life or death, must, necessary, needfulness, no alternative, no choice, obligation, pinch, precondition, prerequisite, privation, requirement, requisite, sine qua non, stress, undeniability, urgency, vital part, vitals, want |
| Antonyms: | desire, want |