essentially
Britishadverb
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.
He essentially owes his position as president to Sonko, his one-time mentor who would almost certainly have taken the top job had he not been barred from the presidential election due to a defamation conviction.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
Fellow analysts seemed to take the view that the company was essentially “bankrupt and didn’t even know it,” thanks to uncertainty around the eventual costs of the merchant suit, Maurer told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch • May 25, 2026
RAND: As with the other experiments, it essentially just unpacks all the evidence that’s inconsistent with the claim.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
“We essentially throw the kitchen sink at it,” says Haskin.
From Slate • May 23, 2026
The trailer was a fifty-foot flatbed rigged for scrapping, essentially a giant bucket.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Definitions 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.
