| Main Entry: | nitty-gritty |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | basic facts |
Synonyms: |
basics, bottom line, bottom line, brass tacks, chief part, chief thing, cold fact, core, essence, essential details, essential part, focus, fundamentals, gist, hard fact, heart, heart of the matter, important matter, kernel, meat, meat and potatoes, name of the game, nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts, quintessence, reality, root, soul, substance, the facts, the facts, the name of the game |
| 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: | 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: | heart |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | essence, central part |
Synonyms: |
basic, bosom, bottom line, center, coal and ice, core, crux, focal point, focus, gist, hub, kernel, marrow, middle, nitty-gritty, nub, nucleus, pith, polestar, quick*, quintessence, root, seat, soul |
Antonyms: |
exterior, exteriority, outside, periphery, surface |