essentially

adverb

es·​sen·​tial·​ly i-ˈsen(t)-shə-lē 

-ˈsench-lē

: in essence : fundamentally

—used to identify or stress the basic or essential character or nature of a person or thing or to say that a description is basically true or accurate

He's essentially a good man.

… painting, essentially a two-dimensional art …

—Herbert Read

The fact that so many bloggers are essentially anonymous allows them to spew rancor, rumor, lies, and obscenities.

—Gil Troy

Aphids feed on the sugary phloem of plants. Essentially they steal the product of photosynthesis.

—Caleb Rounds

Examples of essentially in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

President Trump radically reduced the borders of the two monuments, then their status was reversed again when President Biden took office and essentially restored protection of the original lands. —James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2024

Clearly, this was an outage of major proportions, as millions of Windows systems worldwide essentially cratered. —Chris Bowen, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024

By the time he was found, with his boat long gone, Logan said the man was essentially strapped to the cooler. —Luke Barr, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2024

So what’s the industry’s motive for promoting a flawed, dangerous and essentially defunct technology? —Nayamin Martinez, The Mercury News, 11 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1774, in the meaning defined above