essentially.

1. In the most important or basic respects.

2. For practical purposes, even if small qualifications or unfinished details remain.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• essentially different
• essentially a question of
• essentially the same

On the page

The dispute is essentially a question of who has the authority to decide.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: invariable adverb. Writing functions: synthesis, qualification, interpretation. Commonness: common. Core-nature and practical-approximation senses distinguished; no intensity assigned.