| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | basic, important |
| Synonyms: | axiological, axiomatic, basal, bottom, bottom-line, cardinal, central, constitutional, constitutive, crucial, elemental, elementary, essential, first, foundational, grass-roots, indispensable, integral, intrinsic, key, major, meat-and-potatoes, necessary, organic, original, paramount, primary, prime, primitive, primordial, principal, radical, requisite, rudimentary, significant, structural, substratal, substrative, supporting, sustaining, theoretical, underived, underlying, vital |
| Antonyms: | additional, advanced, auxiliary, extra, minor, secondary, subordinate, trivial, unimportant |
| Main Entry: | important |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | valuable, substantial |
| Synonyms: | big, big-league, chief, considerable, conspicuous, critical, crucial, decisive, determining, earnest, essential, esteemed, exceptional, exigent, extensive, far-reaching, foremost, front-page, grave, great, heavy, imperative, importunate, influential, large, marked, material, mattering much, meaningful, momentous, necessary, of moment, of note, of substance, paramount, ponderous, pressing, primary, principal, relevant, salient, serious, signal, significant, something, standout, urgent, vital, weighty |
| Antonyms: | inappreciable, insignificant, little, nonessential, small, trivial, unimportant, unsubstantial |
| Main Entry: | inevitable |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | certain; cannot be avoided |
| Synonyms: | all locked up, assured, binding, compulsory, decided, decreed, destined, determined, doomed, fated, fateful, fixed, for certain, foreordained, imminent, impending, in the bag, ineluctable, ineludible, inescapable, inexorable, inflexible, irresistible, irrevocable, necessary, no ifs ands or buts, obligatory, ordained, pat, prescribed, settled, sure, unalterable, unavoidable, undeniable, unpreventable, without recourse |
| Antonyms: | avoidable, doubtful, escapable, fortuitous, preventable, uncertain, unlikely, unsure |
| Main Entry: | inexorable |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cruel, pitiless |
| Synonyms: | adamant, adamantine, bound, bound and determined, compulsory, dead set on, dogged, hard, harsh, hell bent on, immobile, immovable, implacable, ineluctable, inescapable, inflexible, ironclad, like death and taxes, locked in, mean business, merciless, necessary, no going back, obdurate, obstinate, relentless, remorseless, resolute, rigid, set in stone, severe, single-minded, stubborn, unappeasable, unbending, uncompromising, unmovable, unrelenting, unyielding |
| Antonyms: | flexible, lenient, merciful, remorseful, yielding |
| Main Entry: | logical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | probable, reasonable |
| Synonyms: | analytic, analytical, clear, cogent, coherent, commonsensical, compelling, congruent, consequent, consistent, convincing, deducible, discerning, discriminating, extensional, fair, germane, holding together, holding water, inferential, intelligent, judicious, juridicious, justifiable, kosher*, legit, legitimate, lucid, most likely, necessary, obvious, perceptive, perspicuous, pertinent, plausible, rational, relevant, sensible, sound, subtle, telling, valid, well-organized, wise |
| Antonyms: | illogical, improbable, irrational, unlikely, unreasonable |
| Main Entry: | main |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | principal, predominant |
| Synonyms: | capital, cardinal, central, chief, controlling, critical, crucial, essential, foremost, fundamental, head, leading, major, necessary, outstanding, paramount, particular, preeminent, premier, prevailing, primary, prime, special, star, stellar, supreme, vital |
| Notes: | main means most important element, while a mane is long coarse hair growing along the top and sides of an animal's neck or the growth of hair covering the head of a human being |
| Antonyms: | auxiliary, extra, insignificant, minor, secondary, subordinate, unimportant |
| 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 |
| Main Entry: | obligatory |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | essential, required |
| Synonyms: | binding, coercive, compulsatory, compulsory, de rigueur, enforced, imperative, imperious, mandatory, necessary, requisite, unavoidable |
| Antonyms: | nonessential, optional, unrequired, voluntary |