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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Not necessary 🗑️ Unnecessary things
inessential

inessential

1 5.5
A thing you do not need and can leave behind
  • noun
  • /ˌɪnɪˈsɛnʃəl/
translation icon : superfluo
  • She talked with Walter, too; he had spent the morning packing boxes of inessentials and was planning on a movie for that night.

Examples

  • After cleaning the closet, I realized how many inessentials I had kept over the years that I no longer needed.

  • And she goes on to say that no existent can be satisfied with an inessential role.

  • The teacher asked the students to focus on the inessentials and leave them aside during the exam preparation.

  • The conference agenda was filled with inessentials, making it difficult to address the important topics.

Synonyms

nonessential
vsinessential
1 5.6

A thing that is not needed

focuses more on being unimportant rather than strict necessity
unnecessity
vsinessential
8.4

A thing or situation that is not needed

refers to a concrete thing that lacks essential importance
nonutility
vsinessential
8.9

A thing that has no practical use

means lack of essential or important status rather than uselessness

Antonyms

essential
50 2.4

Things you need for a purpose, like food or water

How Important

necessity
274 2.0
luxury
322 4.2
inessential
1 5.5
frill
4 5.4
trifle
18 4.6

Surface Forms

inessential singular
inessentials plural

Morphology

inessential = inessential (transparent) = in + essential

Using the adjective as a noun to mean 'an inessential thing' is a straightforward and recognizable conversion.

Etymology

The word inessential is made from in- meaning 'not' and essential meaning 'necessary' or 'very important', so an inessential is a thing that is 'not necessary' and can be left behind when you only need the basics.