Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
essence of

essence of

122 4.5
The most important part that makes something what it is
  • noun
translation icon : esencia de
  • The artist captured the very essence of the landscape in his painting.
  • capture the essence of
  • embody the essence of
  • depict the essence of

Like that's the essence of true toughness.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • And that that was really the essence of cognitive therapy.

  • While individual tubers die, the soul or essence of the yam does not.

    Academic text (1999)

  • That to me is the essence of all of this.

    High Performance

  • What does it take to change the essence of a man?

    On Deadly Ground (1994)

  • It's the essence of class struggle.

    Enemy at the Gates (2001)

  • That, graduates, is the essence of the American dream.

  • The very essence of romance is uncertainty.

    The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

  • So I think the essence of what you're saying is spot on.

  • This is actually the essence of the Turing test.

  • The case brought against History consists, in essence, of a critique of this illusion.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

core
vsessence of
468 3.2

The most important central part of something

focuses on the underlying quality that makes something what it is
essence
vsessence of
441 4.8

The central idea or most important part of something

is the phrase form used instead of the single-word term
substance
vsessence of
188 4.3

The main idea of something said or written

applies more broadly to the underlying nature not only to spoken or written meaning
heart and soul
vsessence of
28 3.4

The most important part that holds a group or thing together

is more neutral and abstract and names the fundamental nature not emotion
quintessence
vsessence of
  • Formal
3 9.5

The best example of a quality or type

describes the general fundamental quality rather than an ideal concentrated example

Antonyms

triviality
6 5.4

A small detail that does not matter

unimportance
1 4.6

A situation or thing that is not worth much attention

How Essential

essence of
122 4.5
crux
34 7.5
core
468 3.2
element
∞ 3.0
feature
566 2.5
aspect
920 3.4
detail
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

essence of singular
essences of plural

Morphology

essence + of

The meaning 'the most important or fundamental quality of something' is directly and transparently derived from 'essence' (central or defining quality) combined with the preposition 'of' indicating the relation to whatever follows. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'esencia de'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily understand the phrase.

Etymology

The phrase essence of comes from the idea of an essence like a small bottle of perfume or a food extract that holds the strongest smell or taste. So saying the essence of something means its 'most important part' or 'what makes it what it is'.