as in must
something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable
an extensive grounding in mathematics is a sine qua non for a career in architecture
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Recent Examples of sine qua non
At that point, sunglasses lose their sine qua non purpose to protect our eyes, becoming a purely ornamental element capable of elevating an entire outfit.
—
Teresa Romero Martínez, Glamour, 22 Mar. 2025
The sine qua non for an economic deal is that Ukrainian leadership wants a peace deal.
—CBS News, 2 Mar. 2025
Some are fast to embrace the admittedly exciting bold new possibilities of Artificial Intelligence as the future sine qua non of effective schooling.
—Vicki Phillips, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
Both machines must be designed for ridiculously demanding environments—the sine qua non is ultrafast and ultra-accurate logging and triage of billions of events per second in a typhoon of radiation under magnetic fields otherwise found only in MRI machines.
—Douglas McCormick, IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2012
See All Example Sentences for sine qua non
Teresa Romero Martínez, Glamour, 22 Mar. 2025
The sine qua non for an economic deal is that Ukrainian leadership wants a peace deal.
—CBS News, 2 Mar. 2025
Some are fast to embrace the admittedly exciting bold new possibilities of Artificial Intelligence as the future sine qua non of effective schooling.
—Vicki Phillips, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
Both machines must be designed for ridiculously demanding environments—the sine qua non is ultrafast and ultra-accurate logging and triage of billions of events per second in a typhoon of radiation under magnetic fields otherwise found only in MRI machines.
—Douglas McCormick, IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2012
See All Example Sentences for sine qua non
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sine qua non
Noun
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For live music, The Empty Bottle is a must.—
Hannah Howard,
Midwest Living,
15 Jan. 2026
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Renegar says that mousse and a vent brush are musts to add volume to the hair and turn it under with some bend.—
Elise Tabin,
InStyle,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Interviewing Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce satisfied the NFL's Rooney Rule requirements for minority or female candidates, and Harbaugh's visit to northern New Jersey paved the way to make a hire before any of the more than half-dozen teams with a vacancy.—
STEPHEN WHYNO,
Arkansas Online,
16 Jan. 2026
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Full experience requirements did not appear to be listed.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Michael Kors Romee Tote Bag This tote has a spacious main compartment that holds all your necessities and then some, like an iPad and smaller laptops.—
Sian Babish,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
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For many working households, that means a continuation of the faster-than-CPI-U accumulation that characterized the cost of necessities for the previous two decades.—
Gene Ludwig,
Fortune,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sine qua non.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sine%20qua%20non. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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