indispensable
Americanadjective
-
absolutely necessary, essential, or requisite.
an indispensable member of the staff.
- Synonyms:
- needed
-
incapable of being disregarded or neglected.
an indispensable obligation.
noun
adjective
-
absolutely necessary; essential
-
not to be disregarded or escaped
an indispensable role
noun
Synonym Usage
See necessary.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of indispensable
First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin indispēnsābilis “not subject to dispensation.” See in- 3, dispensable
Explanation
Indispensable is a strong adjective for something that you couldn't do without. If you have asthma and you're packing for summer vacation, your inhaler is indispensable, unless you enjoy gasping on the beach. Something that is dispensable is something you could get rid of, like that box of yogurt-covered zucchini snacks that's been in the pantry for a year. So if something is indispensable you couldn't possibly go without it, like salt, or for some people, coffee. Chocolate is indispensable for chocolate chip cookies, as is furniture for the adult hide-and-go-seek league.
Vocabulary lists containing indispensable
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
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Starting Your New Life: Inspiring Words from Commencement Speeches
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Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)
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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.
Gigawatt‑scale plants are also indispensable for baseload power growth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 5, 2026
But he’s bootstrapped himself into intelligence and with savvy networking and know-how, he becomes indispensable to the British, volunteering as a major to survey land and negotiate treaties with the Native tribes and French army.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026
Yet the vast central African nation is also one of the world's biggest sources of critical metals indispensable to global industry.
From Barron's • Jun. 26, 2026
Our indispensable assistant Yueling, who remembers a World Cup betting pool at our old Shanghai bureau 20 years ago, is backing France—a Zidane loyalist to the end.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026
It would mean making some quite fundamental changes in our attitudes toward each other, if we were really to think of ourselves as indispensable elements of nature.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
