consequential.

1. Likely to have substantial effects or implications.

2. Resulting indirectly or subsequently from an event rather than forming its immediate effect.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• consequential decision
• consequential change

On the page

A seemingly small amendment became consequential when funding depended on its wording.

The report’s most consequential omission concerned the people excluded from the sample.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more consequential; superlative most consequential where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: significance, causation. Disciplines: general academic writing. Commonness: moderately common.