vital

vital

adjective

Definition of VITAL

1

having active strength of body or mind <a man who remained vital well into his 90s>

Synonyms dynamic, energetic, flush, gingery, lusty, peppy, red-blooded, robust, vital

Related Words animated, brisk, dashing, kinetic, lively, punchy, spirited, sprightly, vivacious; energized, enlivened, invigorated, vitalized; firm, fortified, mettlesome, mighty, powerful, puissant, strong; refreshed, rejuvenated, revitalized; able-bodied, athletic, beefy, brawny, burly, fit, hardy, husky, muscular, robustious, rugged, stalwart, stout, strapping, sturdy, tough, virile; hale, healthy, hearty, sound; capable, competent

Near Antonyms delicate, effete, enervated, faint, feeble, frail, infirm, wan, weak, weakened; impotent, powerless, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, tired; indolent, lackadaisical, languid, lazy; invertebrate, nerveless, soft, spineless, wimpy; ill, unhealthy, unsound, unwell; broken-down, debilitated, decrepit, disabled, wasted, worn-out

Antonyms dull, lethargic, listless, sluggish, torpid

2

having much high-spirited energy and movement <the child is vital and active again after being sick>

Synonyms active, airy, animate, animated, bouncing, brisk, energetic, frisky, gay, jaunty, jazzy, kinetic, mettlesome, peppy, perky, pert, pizzazzy (or pizazzy), racy, snappy, spanking, sparky, spirited, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy

Related Words dapper, dashing, spiffy; agog, alert, awake, open-eyed, up, wide-awake; agile, nimble, spry; bright, buoyant, cheerful, chipper, chirpy, chirrupy, effervescent, sparkly, upbeat; eager, enthusiastic, keen; frolicsome, impish, pixieish, playful; boisterous, bubbly, ebullient, exuberant, high-spirited; high-strung, nervous, skittish

Near Antonyms indolent, lazy, unambitious; inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid, weary; apathetic, impassive, phlegmatic, stolid; boring, dull, irksome, tedious

Antonyms dead, inactive, inanimate, lackadaisical, languid, languishing, languorous, leaden, lifeless, limp, listless, spiritless, vapid

3

impossible to do without <I forgot one vital ingredient, and now the biscuits taste strange>

Synonyms all-important, critical, imperative, indispensable, integral, must-have, necessary, necessitous, needed, needful, required, requisite, vital

Related Words prerequisite; compulsory, mandatory, nonelective, obligatory; consequential, crucial, important, major, material, meaningful, momentous, significant, substantial, weighty; basic, central, fundamental, key, organic; insistent, persistent, pressing, urgent

Near Antonyms undesired, unwanted; inconsequential, insignificant, unimportant; excess, external, extra, extraneous, superfluous, surplus

Antonyms dispensable, inessential, needless, nonessential, unessential, unnecessary, unneeded

4

likely to cause or capable of causing death <received a vital wound in the abdomen>

Synonyms baleful, deathly, fatal, fell, killer, lethal, mortal, murderous, pestilent, terminal, vital

Related Words baneful, deleterious, destructive, harmful, injurious, noxious, pernicious, truculent; infectious, infective, pestilential, poisonous, sublethal, toxic, virulent; dangerous, grave, grievous, hazardous, jeopardizing, menacing, parlous, perilous, risky, serious, threatening, ugly, unhealthy, unsound; bloody, internecine, sanguinary, sanguine

Near Antonyms beneficial, restorative, salubrious, salutary; alleviative, corrective, curative, remedial, tonic; advantageous, beneficial, useful; nonpoisonous, nontoxic, safe

Antonyms healthful, healthy, nonfatal, nonlethal, wholesome

5

of the greatest possible importance <a matter that is vital to our national security>

Synonyms critical, key, pivotal, vital

Related Words decisive, life-and-death (also life-or-death), weighty; basic, elementary, fundamental; essential, indispensable, necessary, requisite; pressing, urgent

Near Antonyms inconsequential, insignificant, minor, trivial, unimportant

6

having a renewing effect on the state of the body or mind <after the long, dreary winter, we welcomed the vital rays of the summer sun>

Synonyms bracing, cordial, invigorating, refreshing, rejuvenating, restorative, reviving, stimulating, stimulative, vital, vitalizing

Related Words life-giving; conditioning, strengthening; animating, exhilarating, exhilarative, quickening, sharp; corrective, curative, curing, medicinal, rectifying, recuperative, reformative, reformatory, rehabilitative, remedial, remedying, reparative, therapeutic; beneficial, healthful, healthy, helpful, salubrious, salutary, wholesome

Near Antonyms deadening, debilitating, draining, enervating, enfeebling, exhausting, numbing, sapping, weakening, wearying; deleterious, injurious, pernicious; insalubrious, noxious, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome