100 Other Words for “Vital”

No.	Term	Definition
1.	A1 essential	Required; cannot be omitted.
2.	Absolute	Complete; not conditional.
3.	Actionable	Able to be acted upon.
4.	All-important	More important than all else.
5.	Apparent	Clearly seen; evident.
6.	Applicable	Relevant to the situation.
7.	Basic	Foundational; simplest necessary.
8.	Bedrock	Underlying and supporting everything.
9.	Bedrock-level	At the most basic level.
10.	Binding	Obligatory; must be followed.
11.	Breath-of-life	That which gives life.
12.	Cardinal	Of primary importance.
13.	Central	At the core; main.
14.	Chief	Most important; leading.
15.	Consequential	Having significant effects.
16.	Core	Central, most important part.
17.	Cornerstone	Essential foundation or basis.
18.	Critical	Decisive; of great importance.
19.	Crucial	Extremely important; decisive.
20.	Deciding	Determining the outcome.
21.	Decisive	Settling an issue; conclusive.
22.	Defining	Shaping identity; characteristic.
23.	Determinative	Serving to decide an outcome.
24.	Driving	Providing main force or motive.
25.	Essential	Absolutely necessary; indispensable.
26.	Essential-to-survival	Needed to stay alive.
27.	Exigent	Urgently demanding attention.
28.	Fateful	Having momentous consequences.
29.	Foremost	First in importance.
30.	Foundational	Serving as a base.
31.	Fundamental	Basic and necessary to all else.
32.	Germane	Directly related; relevant.
33.	Governing	Exercising decisive influence.
34.	Grounding	Providing basic support or context.
35.	Heart-of-the-matter	Most important point.
36.	High-priority	Needing immediate attention.
37.	High-stakes	Involving serious risk or outcome.
38.	Immeasurable	Too great to measure.
39.	Imperative	Absolutely necessary; urgent.
40.	Important	Of great value or significance.
41.	Indispensable	Impossible to do without.
42.	Instrumental	Serving as a means to an end.
43.	Integral	Necessary to make whole.
44.	Invaluable	Extremely useful; beyond price.
45.	Kernel	Central or most important part.
46.	Key	Most important; essential.
47.	Keystone	Central supporting element.
48.	Leading	Most important; principal.
49.	Life-and-death	Extremely serious; critical.
50.	Life-sustaining	Necessary to keep alive.
51.	Linchpin	Essential element holding things together.
52.	Major	Greater in importance or size.
53.	Make-or-break	Deciding success or failure.
54.	Material	Relevant and significant to issues.
55.	Meaningful	Having significant purpose or value.
56.	Mission-critical	Essential to core operations.
57.	Momentous	Of great importance; historic.
58.	Necessary	Required by circumstances.
59.	Necessary-to-have	Strongly needed; essential.
60.	Needful	Necessary; required.
61.	Notable	Worthy of attention; significant.
62.	Of consequence	Important; significant.
63.	Of essence	Fundamentally important.
64.	Of moment	Significant; important.
65.	Overriding	Taking precedence over others.
66.	Paramount	Supreme in importance.
67.	Pertinent	Relevant to the matter.
68.	Pivotal	Crucial; turning point.
69.	Pivotal to success	Crucial for achieving success.
70.	Pointed	Directly relevant; focused.
71.	Preeminent	Surpassing all others; foremost.
72.	Pressing	Urgent; requiring quick action.
73.	Primary	First in importance.
74.	Prime	First in importance or quality.
75.	Principal	Most important; main.
76.	Principal concern	Main worry or focus.
77.	Priority	Given precedence; most important.
78.	Proximate	Closest and most immediate.
79.	Quintessential	Most typical and essential.
80.	Relevant	Closely connected to the topic.
81.	Result-critical	Essential for desired results.
82.	Ruling	Dominant; decisive.
83.	Salient	Most noticeable and important.
84.	Seminal	Highly influential; original.
85.	Serious	Not trivial; important.
86.	Significant	Meaningful; notably important.
87.	Significant to outcomes	Affecting results notably.
88.	Sine qua non	Indispensable condition; essential.
89.	Structural	Relating to supporting framework.
90.	Substantial	Considerable in importance.
91.	Substantive	Having real importance or meaning.
92.	Supportive	Providing needed help or backing.
93.	Supreme	Highest in rank or importance.
94.	Telling	Revealing; strongly indicative.
95.	The main thing	Most important consideration.
96.	Top-priority	Highest urgency or importance.
97.	Ultimate	Final and most important.
98.	Unavoidable	Cannot be prevented or ignored.
99.	Urgent	Requiring immediate action.
100.	Vital-significant	Extremely important; critical.