Vital — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Vital (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. having active strength of body or mind

   "a man who remained vital well into his 90s"

   similar: dynamic, energetic, flush, gingery, lusty, peppy, red-blooded, robust, vigorous
   related: animated, brisk, dashing, kinetic, lively, punchy, spirited, sprightly, vivacious, energized, enlivened, invigorated, vitalized, firm, fortified, mettlesome, mighty, powerful, puissant, strong, refreshed, rejuvenated, revitalized, able-bodied, athletic, beefy, brawny, burly, fit, hardy, husky, muscular, robustious, rugged, stalwart, stout, strapping, sturdy, tough, virile, hale, healthy, hearty, sound, capable, competent
   opposite: dull, lethargic, listless, sluggish, torpid
   near: delicate, effete, enervated, faint, feeble, frail, infirm, wan, weak, weakened, impotent, powerless, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, tired, indolent, lackadaisical, languid, lazy, invertebrate, nerveless, soft, spineless, wimpy, ill, unhealthy, unsound, unwell, broken-down, debilitated, decrepit, disabled, wasted, worn-out

2. having much high-spirited energy and movement

   "the child is vital and active again after being sick"

   similar: active, airy, animate, animated, bouncing, brisk, energetic, frisky, gay, jaunty, jazzy, kinetic, lively, mettlesome, peppy, perky, pert, pizzazzy, racy, snappy, spanking, sparky, spirited, sprightly, springy, vivacious, zippy, on the go
   related: dapper, dashing, spiffy, agog, alert, awake, open-eyed, up, wide-awake, agile, nimble, spry, bright, buoyant, cheerful, chipper, chirpy, chirrupy, effervescent, sparkly, upbeat, eager, enthusiastic, keen, frolicsome, impish, pixieish, playful, boisterous, bubbly, ebullient, exuberant, high-spirited, high-strung, nervous, skittish
   opposite: dead, inactive, inanimate, lackadaisical, languid, languishing, languorous, leaden, lifeless, limp, listless, spiritless, vapid
   near: indolent, lazy, unambitious, inert, lethargic, sleepy, sluggish, tired, torpid, weary, apathetic, impassive, phlegmatic, stolid, boring, dull, irksome, tedious

3. impossible to do without

   "I forgot one vital ingredient, and now the biscuits taste strange"

   similar: all-important, critical, essential, imperative, indispensable, integral, must-have, necessary, necessitous, needed, needful, required, requisite, of the essence
   related: prerequisite, compulsory, mandatory, nonelective, obligatory, consequential, crucial, important, major, material, meaningful, momentous, significant, substantial, weighty, basic, central, fundamental, key, organic, insistent, persistent, pressing, urgent
   opposite: dispensable, inessential, needless, nonessential, unessential, unnecessary, unneeded
   near: undesired, unwanted, inconsequential, insignificant, unimportant, excess, external, extra, extraneous, superfluous, surplus

4. likely to cause or capable of causing death

   "received a vital wound in the abdomen"

   similar: baleful, deadly, deathly, fatal, fell, killer, lethal, mortal, murderous, pestilent, terminal
   related: baneful, deleterious, destructive, harmful, injurious, noxious, pernicious, truculent, infectious, infective, pestilential, poisonous, sublethal, toxic, virulent, dangerous, grave, grievous, hazardous, jeopardizing, menacing, parlous, perilous, risky, serious, threatening, ugly, unhealthy, unsound, bloody, internecine, sanguinary, sanguine
   opposite: healthful, healthy, nonfatal, nonlethal, wholesome
   near: beneficial, restorative, salubrious, salutary, alleviative, corrective, curative, remedial, tonic, advantageous, useful, nonpoisonous, nontoxic, safe

5. of the greatest possible importance

   "a matter that is vital to our national security"

   similar: critical, crucial, key, pivotal
   related: decisive, life-and-death, weighty, basic, elementary, fundamental, essential, indispensable, instrumental, necessary, requisite, pressing, urgent
   near: inconsequential, insignificant, minor, trivial, unimportant

6. having a renewing effect on the state of the body or mind

   "after the long, dreary winter, we welcomed the vital rays of the summer sun"

   similar: bracing, cordial, invigorating, refreshing, rejuvenating, restorative, reviving, stimulating, stimulative, tonic, vitalizing
   related: life-giving, conditioning, strengthening, animating, exhilarating, exhilarative, quickening, sharp, corrective, curative, curing, medicinal, rectifying, recuperative, reformative, reformatory, rehabilitative, remedial, remedying, reparative, therapeutic, beneficial, healthful, healthy, helpful, salubrious, salutary, wholesome
   near: deadening, debilitating, draining, enervating, enfeebling, exhausting, numbing, sapping, weakening, wearying, deleterious, injurious, pernicious, insalubrious, noxious, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome