essentially
Americanadverb
adverb
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Notice the tie between essentially and the word "essence," referring to the very core of something. As an adverb, then, essentially refers to something's nature. In spite of your faults, you're essentially a good person. The word essentia came from the Lower Latin, referring to something's inherent qualities. If you're convinced that there's not much difference between two things, you might say that they are essentially the same. Nietzsche once made the essentially sexist comment, "Man wishes woman to be peaceable, but in fact she is essentially warlike, like the cat.”
Vocabulary lists containing essentially
Amari and the Night Brothers
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"They’re essentially becoming a bank," said Michael Cusumano, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
We assumed, naively, that my husband’s salary would continue to increase, not that raises would be paused due to university budget concerns, and that once he got tenure, his earnings would essentially plateau.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
The ratio’s level today is essentially the same as it was 12 months ago, as you can see from the above chart.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Anthropic’s capital structure essentially cuts regular shareholders out of most company decisions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Trench warfare had begun along a front that would remain essentially unchanged for four more terrible years.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
