basic

comparative more basic · superlative most basic

1. Necessary, essential for life or some process.

   Flour is a basic ingredient of bread.

   2 more examples

   Over the past few weeks, U.S. Coast Guard service members, civilian employees and their families have had to scramble to pay for basic necessities. Many have taken donations of food and toiletries from their communities, and frantically called their banks and credit unions to try to avert financial disaster.

   2019 January 24, Tara Law, “There’s a Food Pantry at the Coast Guard Academy. How the Shutdown Is Causing Special Pain for Service Members”, in Time

   Having access to the truth is a basic right of the general public.

   2020 September 21, “Breaking Through the Internet Blockade”, in Minghui

   Synonyms: indispensable, needed, essential, indispensable, necessar, necessary, necessitous, needed

2. Elementary, simple, fundamental, merely functional.

   The Hotel Sparta’s accommodation is very basic.

   Synonyms: no-frills, spartan, austere, bare, bare-bones, bargain, cheap, default

3. chemistryOf or pertaining to a base; having a pH greater than 7.

   Synonyms: alkaline · Antonyms: acidic

4. informalUnremarkable or uninteresting; boring; uncool.

   It [the online far right] feels full of righteous contempt for anything mainstream, conformist, basic.

   2017, Angela Nagle, chapter 7, in Kill All Normies, Zero Books, →ISBN

   3 more examples

   I'm not saying people are jealous of Hathaway because she is so perfect. Yes, she does have it all — husband, healthy career, good looks. But she doesn't do anything in an "awesome" way. She's basic.

   2013, Sam Stryker, "Why Does Everyone Hate Anne Hathaway?", The Observer (University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College), Volume 46, Issue 101, 1 March 2013, page 11

   And what can be said about Ginny? She’s basic. My guess is that she spends her time drinking pumpkin spice lattes and watching “Pretty Little Liars.” The Chosen One is way out of her quidditch league.

   2014 February 3, Trevor Thrall, “Firing Line: Rowling says ‘JK,’ Ron and Hermione not meant to be”, in The Daily Campus, volume 99, number 54, Southern Methodist University, page 4

   "I couldn't get into it, I could barely understand what he's saying – it had too much cursing and explicit language," said Cortnee Brandon. "I think his lyrics are easy...he's basic. Kendrick Lamar is kind of overrated."

   2015, Lily Kunda, "A New Track On Hip-Hipocrisy", The Marlin Chronicle (Virginia Wesleyan College), 26 February 2015, page 7

   Synonyms: dull, tedious, bog-standard, ordinary, banal, mindless, beat, blah

plural basics

1. plural normallyA necessary commodity, a staple requirement.

   Rice is a basic for many Asian villagers.

   1 more example

   The cabin was stocked with all the basics.

2. plural normallyAn elementary building block, e.g. a fundamental piece of knowledge.

   Arithmetic is a basic for the study of mathematics.

   1 more example

   I know the basics of sailing and would love to learn more.

   Synonyms: grounding

3. governmentBasic training.

   The drill sergeants gave him hell in basic.

   1 more example

   When I shipped out for basic, the Orbital Defense Grid was all theory and politics.

   2004 November 9, Bungie, Halo 2, spoken by Avery Johnson (David Scully), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox, level/area: The Armory

plural BASICs · alternative Basic

1. computer languagesAny of a family of third-generation programming languages.

   Many programs were written for the Sinclair Spectrum computer in BASIC.

1. abbreviationattributiveinitialismInitialism of Brazil, South Africa, India and China.

1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of British American Security Information Council.

alternative BASIC

1. computer languagesA family of third-generation computer programming languages (c.1964 on).

   Many programs were written for the Sinclair Spectrum computer in BASIC.