indispensable

Intermediatezipf 3.34

Pronunciation

/ˌɪndɪˈspɛnsəbl/(in-dih-SPEN-suh-bl)

Part of speech

adjectiveformal

Chinese

必不可少的；不可或缺的

Definition

Absolutely necessary; too important to do without.

Word family

  • indispensability/ˌɪndɪˌspɛnsəˈbɪləti/(n)不可或缺性
  • dispensable/dɪˈspɛnsəbl/(adj)可有可无的

Collocations

  • indispensable tool
  • indispensable to success
  • become indispensable
  • an indispensable part

Examples

  1. 1.Clean water is indispensable for human survival. (absolutely needed)
  2. 2.She quickly became indispensable to the team. (too valuable to lose)

Synonyms

  • essential/ɪˈsɛnʃəl/— necessary, general
  • vital/ˈvaɪtl/— critically important
  • crucial/ˈkruːʃəl/— at a decisive point

Etymology

in- (not) + dispensable (can be done without) — cannot be dispensed with