inessential

American  

[in-i-sen-shuhl] / ˌɪn ɪˈsɛn ʃəl /

adjective

1. not essential; not necessary; nonessential.

2. without essence; insubstantial.

---

noun

1. that which is not essential.

inessential British  

/ ˌɪnɪˈsɛnʃəl /

adjective

1. not necessary

---

noun

1. anything that is not essential

Other Word Forms

• inessentiality
  noun

Etymology

Origin of inessential

First recorded in 1670–80; in- ³ + essential

Explanation

Something inessential isn't terribly important or necessary. While you need certain nutrients to stay alive and healthy, things like doughnuts and milkshakes are inessential parts of your diet. The ornamental fireplace in your house that's never used is inessential, but the wood stove that heats your kitchen all winter is not. Inessential details can complicate books, essays, or legal documents, making them harder to understand. The adjective inessential adds the prefix in-, or "not," to essential, "extremely important," from the Latin root essentia, "being or essence."

Example Sentences

MAP, deemed inessential, was cut, and the program dissolved within a few years.

From Scientific American • Aug. 28, 2023

It urged residents in the area to avoid inessential outings and to use caution against mudslides, flooding and thunderstorms.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 14, 2023

Even when we imagine a superhero with X-ray vision, we imagine somebody who sees through the inessential to the essential.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2023

Matthew Jacobs called the show "inessential" in his review for TV Guide, while Brian Lowry of CNN described it as "a disappointment" though its "stars still merit a look."

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2023

If you want to see this faith in all its naïveté go into those quaint rationalist circles where Herbert Spencer's ghost announces the "laws of life," with only a few inessential details omitted.

From A Preface to Politics by Lippmann, Walter