| Main Entry: | meat and potatoes |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | fundamental parts |
Synonyms: |
ball game, basis, bottom line, essence, gist, gravamen, guts, name of the game, nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts, score, substance |
| Main Entry: | bottom |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | lowest; fundamental |
Synonyms: |
basal, base, basement, basic, foundational, ground, last, lowermost, lowest, meat-and-potatoes, nethermost, primary, radical, rock-bottom, underlying, undermost |
Antonyms: |
highest, top, unnecessary |
| Main Entry: | bottom line |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | indispensable content |
Synonyms: |
basis, conclusion, core, crux, determination, essence, fiber, final decision, fundamentals, income, key point, last word, loss, main idea, main point, main thing, meat and potatoes, name of the game, net, nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts, point, profit, reality, sum and substance, what it's all about, whole story |
| Main Entry: | comfort food |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | satisfying food |
Synonyms: |
Mom's food, home cooking, meat and potatoes, plain food, prepackaged food |
| Main Entry: | core |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | center, gist |
Synonyms: |
amount, base, basis, body, bottom line, bulk, burden, consequence, corpus, crux, essence, focus, foundation, heart, import, importance, kernel, main idea, mass, meat and potatoes, meat*, middle, midpoint, midst, nitty gritty, nub, nucleus, origin, pith, pivot, purport, quick, root, significance, staple, substance, thrust, upshot |
Antonyms: |
covering, exterior, exteriority, outside, perimeter, surface |
| Main Entry: | crux |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | most important part |
Synonyms: |
body, bottom line, core, decisive point, essence, gist, heart, kernel, matter, meat and potatoes, meat*, nitty-gritty, nub, pith, purport, substance, thrust |
Antonyms: |
trivia |
| Main Entry: | detail |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | feature, specific aspect |
Synonyms: |
ABCs, accessory, article, brass tacks, chapter and verse, circumstantiality, component, count, cue, design, dope*, element, fact, factor, fine point, fraction, item, meat and potatoes, minor point, minutia, nicety, nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts, part, particular, peculiarity, plan, point, portion, respect, schedule, singularity, specialty, specification, structure, technicality, thing, trait, trivia, triviality |
Antonyms: |
whole |
| Main Entry: | elementary |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | simple, basic |
Synonyms: |
ABCs, abecedarian, basal, beginning, child's play, clear, duck soup, easy, elemental, essential, facile, foundational, fundamental, initial, introductory, meat and potatoes, original, plain, prefatory, preliminary, primary, primitive, primo, rudimentary, simplest, simplex, simplified, straightforward, substratal, uncomplex, uncomplicated, underlying |
Antonyms: |
abstruse, advanced, complex, complicated, compound, difficult, hard, intricate, involved, secondary |
| Main Entry: | essential |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | basic, fundamental |
Synonyms: |
absolute, basal, cardinal, cold, complete, congenital, connate, constitutional, deep-seated, elemental, elementary, ideal, inborn, inbred, inherent, innate, intrinsic, key, main, material, meat and potatoes, name of the game, nitty-gritty, nub, perfect, primary, prime, primitive, principal, quintessential, substratal, underlying |
| Notes: | the words crucial, essential, and vital cannot be qualified (cannot be more or less...) |
Antonyms: |
atypical, minor, secondary |
| Main Entry: | essential |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | necessity, basic |
Synonyms: |
ABCs, bottom line, brass tacks, condition, element, essence, fire and ice, fundamental, groceries, guts*, heart, meat and potatoes, must, name of the game, nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts, part and parcel, precondition, prerequisite, principle, quintessence, requirement, requisite, rudiment, sine qua non, stuff, substance, vital part, where one's at |
Antonyms: |
accessory, auxiliary, nonessential, subsidiary, throwaway, trivia |