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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A First Time for Everything
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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.
The other bonus tracks are more reflective, essentially functioning as a post-mortem on her love life.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
“So, you’re essentially removing the staff and facilities that are closest to the locations of which they’re helping and supporting, and you’re also cutting off this critical research capability.”
From Salon • May 2, 2026
The auto industry’s first-quarter earnings are essentially in the books.
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
GameStop’s stock is essentially flat over the past 12 months.
From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026
What Shapin offers is essentially a circular argument: talk of constraint is incompatible with relativism, but historians are committed to relativism, consequently they must not talk of constraint.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
