Photosynthesis is essential for plant growth because it converts light energy into chemical energy stored in sugars.
光合作用对植物生长至关重要，因为它将光能转化为储存在糖中的化学能。
Novelist Teodoro Vasquez argues that translated literature inevitably loses something essential, since the translator's own voice and interpretive choices are woven into every line.
From a Cross-Text Connections question · Craft and Structure
Theater historian Boris Kaminski, who has studied similar modern-dress productions elsewhere, cautions that updating a play's setting can sometimes obscure historical context that is essential to understanding certain plot points and character motivations.
From a Cross-Text Connections question · Craft and Structure
Which choice best defines “essential”?
A — Absolutely necessary; extremely important. “essential” means absolutely necessary; extremely important.
Which word means “absolutely necessary; extremely important”?
B — essential. “essential” means absolutely necessary; extremely important.
essential — absolutely necessary; extremely important. In Chinese: 必要的，极其重要的.
essential is pronounced /ɪˈsɛnʃəl/.
Photosynthesis is essential for plant growth because it converts light energy into chemical energy stored in sugars. (光合作用对植物生长至关重要，因为它将光能转化为储存在糖中的化学能。)
necessary, crucial, vital — all close in meaning to essential (absolutely necessary; extremely important).
optional, dispensable — each the opposite of essential (absolutely necessary; extremely important).
Yes. essential is on the SAT Prep Easy list — mid-frequency academic words that do get tested. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.
essence(essence, core) + -ial (adjective suffix) → describing an essential part of something → essential, necessary.