| 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: | 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: | essence |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | heart, significance |
Synonyms: |
aspect, attribute, backbone, base, basis, be-all and end-all, being, bottom, bottom line, burden, caliber, character, chief constituent, constitution, core, crux, element, entity, essentia, essentiality, fiber, form, fundamentals, germ, grain, kernel, life, lifeblood, main idea, marrow, meaning, meat*, name of game, nature, nitty-gritty, nub, nucleus, pith, point, principle, property, quality, quiddity, quintessence, reality, root, soul, spirit, structure, stuff, substance, timber, vein, virtuality |
| 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 |
| Main Entry: | foundation |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | basis for something physical or mental |
Synonyms: |
ABCs, authority, base, basics, bed, bedrock, bottom, bottom line, brass tacks, foot, footing, ground, groundwork, guts*, heart*, infrastructure, justification, nitty-gritty, nub, nuts and bolts, prop, reason, root, stay, substratum, substructure, support, underpinning, understructure |
| Main Entry: | fundamental |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | basic, essential part |
Synonyms: |
ABCs, axiom, basis, bottom line, brass tacks, coal and ice, component, constituent, cornerstone, element, factor, foundation, guts*, heart, law, nitty-gritty, principium, principle, rock bottom, rudiment, rule, sine qua non, theorem |
Antonyms: |
addition, auxiliary, extra, subordinate, trivia |
| Main Entry: | gist |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | meaning, essence |
Synonyms: |
basis, bearing, bottom line, burden, core, drift, force, heart, idea, import, kernel, keynote, marrow, matter, meat*, name of the game, nature of the beast, nitty gritty, nuts and bolts, pith, point, punch line, quintessence, score, sense, short, significance, soul, spirit, stuff*, subject, substance, summary, tenor, theme, thrust, topic, upshot |