in essence

prepositional phrase

By nature; inherently.

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. By nature; inherently.

    Indigenous people, such as agriculturists, hunters, and pastoralists initiated a system of totemism and tabooism which in essence was a natural law against killing and eating certain animals.

    1978, David Dhlalangami Maforo, Black-white Relations in Kenya Game Policy, page 5
    3 more examples

    If the human being who answers these tendencies assumes a submissive behavior, in essence a lowering of head and shoulders, wavering glance, absence of all preparations for attack, general weakening of muscle tonus, and hesitancy in movement, the movements of attempt at mastery become modified into attempts at the more obvious swagger, strut and glare of triumph.

    1913, Edward Lee Thorndike, Educational Psychology, Teachers college, Columbia university, page 92

    The viol, he argued, was in essence a bowed guitar, the result of a cross-fertilisation between the 15th-century Spanish plucked instrument known as the vihuela de mano and the medieval fiddle.

    1988, Ian Woodfield, The Early History of the Viol, page 3

    The study of the sounds within stars is known as astroseismology, and a separate report in Science details the findings of more than 500 stars whose deep rumblings Kepler has measured. As convection processes within stars move masses of material up from the core, great pressure waves - in essence, sound waves of very low frequency - are created.

    2011 April 8, “Kepler star trio find is mystery to astroseismologists”, in bbc.co.uk, retrieved 08 Jan 2013

    Synonyms: essentially, substantively, substantially, basically, fundamentally, intrinsically · Antonyms: circumstantially, happenstantially, incidentally, coincidentally, by chance, accidentally

  2. broadlyIn most ways that matter; in all ways that matter.

    Synonyms: essentially, substantively, substantially, basically, fundamentally, more or less

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositional phraseIn most ways that matter; in all ways that matter.

More synonyms by meaning

adverbwith regard to fundamentals although not concerning details

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

in essence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20essence

MLA

“in essence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20essence. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in essence,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20essence.

Source: in essence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.