Importance and Essentiality: English Vocabulary List

playing a crucial role or serving as a key point of reference

"This is a pivotal moment."

"The scientist's discovery was pivotal to the development of the vaccine and millions of lives have been saved as a result of her work."

holding the most power, importance, or influence

"Her career is ascendant."

"The young politician's career is ascendant and many people believe that she will become the next prime minister of the country."

highly significant or impactful

"A momentous decision was made."

"The signing of the peace treaty was a momentous occasion and leaders from all over the world gathered to witness the historic event."

surpassing others in quality, distinction, or importance

"He is a preeminent leader."

"The university hired a preeminent scholar to lead the research department and his reputation attracted funding from many international sources."

having a strong influence on future developments, ideas, or work

"A seminal study was published."

"The scientist published a seminal paper that changed the way biologists think about evolution and his ideas are still debated today."

insignificant or of little importance

"A piffling sum of money."

"The company offered a piffling settlement that would not even cover the cost of repairing the damage so the customer decided to sue them."

small, unimportant, or not worth much attention

"A piddling amount of effort."

"The intern was paid a piddling wage that barely covered his bus fare and he had to eat ramen noodles for every meal."

beyond what is necessary or required

"Remove superfluous words."

"The extra paragraph in the essay was superfluous and the teacher told the student to remove it because it did not add any value."

considered to be of small importance or value

"Don't sweat picayune things."

"The committee spent hours arguing over picayune details like the color of the logo while ignoring the much more important budget issues."

not relevant or significant to the current situation, discussion, etc.

"The detail is immaterial."

"The witness's testimony was immaterial to the case because it did not provide any evidence about whether the defendant had committed the crime."

easily replaced or sacrificed without significant loss or consequence, indicating a lack of value

"The soldiers were expendable."

"The manager treated the temporary workers as expendable and he fired them without hesitation whenever the budget needed to be cut."

having considerable importance, influence, or gravity

"This is a weighty matter."

"The committee discussed the weighty implications of the new policy on the community."

signifying a matter of deep concern

"The situation is grave."

"The grave situation required immediate action and the president called an emergency meeting of his top advisors."

possessing the quality of being the most important or basic part of something

"Honesty is cardinal."

"The cardinal rule of wilderness survival is to always carry enough water because dehydration can kill you faster than hunger or cold."

not central or of primary importance

"A peripheral concern arose."

"The peripheral details of the story were not important so the teacher told the students to focus on the main events instead."

lower in position or importance

"A subordinate role was assigned."

"The subordinate employees were afraid to question the manager's decisions because they did not want to lose their jobs or get into trouble."

unnecessary or unrelated to the matter or subject at hand

"Cut extraneous information."

"The essay contained too many extraneous details and the teacher advised the student to remove anything that was not directly relevant to the topic."

extremely serious or urgent

"A dire situation unfolded."

"The country faced a dire shortage of clean drinking water after the drought and the government declared a state of emergency."

lacking in significance or value

"That is frivolous talk."

"She dismissed his concerns as frivolous, believing they were not worth serious consideration."