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

That’s especially true with Gerrit Cole’s Tommy John procedure essentially anointing Fried the Yankees’ de facto ace. —Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2025

At the other end, the bottom 49% of filers — representing essentially half of filers statewide — paid only 2.9% of the income tax. —Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 27 Apr. 2025

For starters, there are the day-to-day tasks of the job which involves contending with rats and roaches, etc., and which is essentially an unwinnable war. —Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2025

Passkeys are, essentially, strong by default, phishing and social-engineering resistant as well as being effortless to both create and use. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1774, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for essentially

• potentially
• confidentially
• exponentially
• inferentially
• experientially