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, vigorousRelated 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, competentNear 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-outAntonyms 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, lively, vivacious, zippyRelated 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, skittishNear Antonyms indolent, lazy, unambitious; inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid, weary; apathetic, impassive, phlegmatic, stolid; boring, dull, irksome, tediousAntonyms 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, essentialRelated Words prerequisite; compulsory, mandatory, nonelective, obligatory; consequential, crucial, important, major, material, meaningful, momentous, significant, substantial, weighty; basic, central, fundamental, key, organic; insistent, persistent, pressing, urgentNear Antonyms undesired, unwanted; inconsequential, insignificant, unimportant; excess, external, extra, extraneous, superfluous, surplusAntonyms 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, deadlyRelated 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, sanguineNear Antonyms beneficial, restorative, salubrious, salutary; alleviative, corrective, curative, remedial, tonic; advantageous, beneficial, useful; nonpoisonous, nontoxic, safeAntonyms healthful, healthy, nonfatal, nonlethal, wholesome

5 of the greatest possible importance a matter that is vital to our national security Synonyms critical, key, pivotal, crucialRelated Words decisive, life-and-death (also life-or-death), weighty; basic, elementary, fundamental; essential, indispensable, necessary, requisite; pressing, urgentNear 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, tonic, vitalizingRelated 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, wholesomeNear Antonyms deadening, debilitating, draining, enervating, enfeebling, exhausting, numbing, sapping, weakening, wearying; deleterious, injurious, pernicious; insalubrious, noxious, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome