most fundamental

ADJECTIVE

basic, important

Synonyms

STRONGEST

central constitutional crucial elemental elementary essential indispensable integral intrinsic major necessary paramount principal radical significant structural theoretical underlying vital

STRONG

bottom cardinal first key organic original primary prime primitive requisite supporting

WEAK

axiological axiomatic basal bottom-line constitutive foundational grass-roots meat-and-potatoes primordial rudimentary substratal substrative sustaining underived

Antonyms

STRONGEST

accessory auxiliary extrinsic inessential insignificant learned least lesser minor needless nonessential secondary trivial unimportant unnecessary

WEAK

additional advanced extra subordinate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

most fundamental

Indeed, the most fundamental American value is freedom: the freedom to think how we want, to pray how we want, to speak freely.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

Perhaps the most fundamental authority of Congress is its “power of the purse”—the exclusive power conveyed by Article 1 of the Constitution to both impose taxes and control the expenditure of federal money.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Understanding how life began addresses one of humanity's most fundamental questions: where we came from, where the first living systems appeared, and how Earth's earliest cells were able to survive.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

The most fundamental principle for them is that the term food waste is wrong.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

“And he ignored his basic, most fundamental duty.”

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya