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Synonyms

in essence

Idioms  

  1. Basically, by nature, as in He is in essence a very private person or In essence, they were asking the wrong question. This term employs essence in the sense of “intrinsic nature,” a usage dating from the mid-1600s.

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.

UTLA: The district has offered, in essence, an 8% raise over two years, structured in different ways.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

“This is in essence a scarlet-letter designation for Anthropic that puts this AI stalwart in the same category as the Chinese tech player Huawei in the U.S.,”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 1, 2026

"The people using these products are, in essence, becoming lab rats," Adam Taylor, professor of anatomy at Lancaster University, explains.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

By doing so, the court is, in essence, nullifying state law and depriving him of “the state-created liberty interest upon which he seeks to rely.”

From Slate • Feb. 13, 2026

A refutation of this argument, in essence, can be found in Cicero, although of course without either typewriters or Shakespeare.

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.