vital

/ˈvaɪtəl/

vital adjective: relating to or characteristic of life.

Adjective

vital (comparative more vital, superlative most vital)

Relating to or characteristic of life.
- vital energies; vital functions; vital actions
- But open converse is there none,
  ⁠So much the vital spirits sink
  ⁠To see the vacant chair, and think,
  ‘How good! how kind! and he is gone.’1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 34
Synonyms:

lifely
Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends.
- The brain is a vital organ.
- And doen the heavens afford him vitall food?1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 12
Invigorating or life-giving.
Necessary to continued existence.
- The transition to farming was vital for the creation of civilisation.
Relating to the recording of life events.
- Birth, marriage and death certificates are vital records.
Very important.
- It is vital that you don't forget to do your homework.
- David Cameron insists that his latest communications data bill is “vital to counter terrorism”. Yet terror is mayhem. It is no threat to freedom. That threat is from counter-terror, from ministers capitulating to securocrats.2012 December 14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 2, page 23
Synonyms:

crucial, necessary, significant, big, central, consequential, critical, epochful, essential, extraordinary
Containing life; living.
- spirits that live throughout, vital in every part1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- I ought to go upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways.1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, in Essays: First Series
Synonyms:

extant, live, kicking, above ground, alive, alive and kicking, alive and well, animate, animated, lively
Lively, having vitality
- Montreal is a charming vital city with a large lesbian and gay population which clusters around a neighborhood not far from the center of town.1984 February 4, M. S., “Celles qui aiment: The Lesbians of Montreal”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 28, page 14
Capable of living; in a state to live; viable.
- Pythagoras and Hippocrates […] affirming the birth of the seventh month to be vital.1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC

Proper noun capitalized: Vital

Vital (plural Vitals)

A surname.

vital meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

vital in Hindi

vital or vulnerable part: मर्म marm

vital in Tamil

இன்றியமையாத, உயிராதாரமான, உயிர்த் துடிப்பான, மிகமுக்கியமான, மூச்சிழுப்புத்திறன், உயிர்வாழ்

vital in Urdu

اہم, حیات بخش, حیاتی, ضروری, زندگی کا سرچشمہ

vital in Bengali

অত্যাবশ্যক, অতীব গুরুত্বপূর্ণ, প্রাণবন্ত, জীবন্ত, সঞ্জীবনী, জীবনদায়ক

More languagesFewer languages

vital in Malayalam: ജീവനപരമായ, വിധിനിർണ്ണായക, സജീവ, മർമ്മപ്രധാനമായ
vital in Kannada: ಅರಿದಾದ, ಬೇಕಾಗಿರುವ, ಜೀವನಾಧಾರವಾದ, ಜೀವಿಸಲು ಅಗತ್ಯವಾದ
vital in Arabic: حَيَوِيّ ḥayawiyy, أَسَاسِيّ ʔasāsiyy
vital in Persian: حیاتی hayâti
vital in Vietnamese: đời sống, sống còn

Examples of vital in a sentence

We have argued that organizatory agents are operative in all vital processes, processes that overstep the limits of the physicochemical; […]1925, Seba Eldridge, The Organization of Life, page 164:
Challenger breathed two or three times with enormous gulps, his lungs roaring as he drew in the vital gas.1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
Vocabulary is a vital component of educational success in both first and second language contexts.2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists...
Typically for the 'get-on-with-it' era, the railway and military worked like demons to restore the vital rail link.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:

All 40 example sentences with vital

Synonyms of vital

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

mortal

All synonyms and antonyms of vital

Forms of vital

Adjective
comparative	more vital
superlative	most vital
Proper noun
plural	Vitals

Origin of vital

From Middle English vital, from Old French vital, from Latin vītālis (“of life, life-giving”), from vīta (“life”), from vīvō (“to live”). Doublet of jiva and quick.

Words formed from vital

Phrases with vital

Words that rhyme with vital

Questions about vital

What does vital mean?: Vital means relating to or characteristic of life.
What is vital in Hindi?: Vital in Hindi is मर्म (marm). See Vital meaning in Hindi.
How do you use vital in a sentence?: We have argued that organizatory agents are operative in all vital processes, processes that overstep the limits of the physicochemical; […]
What part of speech is vital?: Vital can be an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce vital?: Vital is pronounced /ˈvaɪtəl/.

Words near vital in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-vital.ogg.

Cite this entry: “vital.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vital. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.