important

[ im-pawr-tnt ]

adjective

1. of much or great significance or consequence:

   an important event in world history.

2. mattering much (usually followed by to ):

   details important to a fair decision.

3. entitled to more than ordinary consideration or notice:

   an important exception.

4. prominent or large:

   He played an important part in national politics.

5. of considerable influence or authority, as a person or position:

   an important scientist.

6. having social position or distinction, as a person or family:

   important guests.

7. pompous; pretentious:

   When speaking, he assumes an important attitude that offends his audience.

8. Obsolete. importunate.

important

/ ɪmˈpɔːtənt /

adjective

1. of great significance or value; outstanding

   Voltaire is an important writer

2. of social significance; notable; eminent; esteemed

   an important man in the town

3. when postpositive,usually foll byto specially relevant or of great concern (to); valued highly (by)

   your wishes are important to me

4. an obsolete word for importunate

Usage Note

Both more important and more importantly occur at the beginning of a sentence in all varieties of standard English: More important (or More importantly), her record as an administrator is unmatched. Today, more importantly is the more common, even though some object to its use on the grounds that more important is an elliptical form of “What is more important” and that the adverb importantly could not occur in such a construction. More importantly probably developed by analogy with other sentence-modifying adverbs, as curiously, fortunately, and regrettably.

Usage

The use of more importantly as in more importantly, the local council is opposed to this proposal has become very common, but many people still prefer to use more important

Derived Forms

• imˈportantly, adverb

Other Words From

• im·portant·ly adverb
• half-im·portant adjective
• half-im·portant·ly adverb
• preim·portant adjective
• preim·portant·ly adverb
• quasi-im·portant adjective
• quasi-im·portant·ly adverb
• super·im·portant adjective
• super·im·portant·ly adverb
• unim·portant adjective
• unim·portant·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of important¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Medieval Latin important-, stem of importāns, present participle of importāre “to be of consequence, weigh,” from Latin: “to carry in, import,” equivalent to im- im- ¹( def ) + port- port ⁵( def ) + -ans -ant ( def ); import ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of important¹

C16: from Old Italian importante, from Medieval Latin importāre to signify, be of consequence, from Latin: to carry in; see import

Example Sentences

The study is an important piece of the puzzle for finding new treatments for dementia, according to the researchers.

From Science Daily

That mRNA is read and translated at a cell's ribosome to create more proteins, important for the chemical and physical function of every organism.

From Science Daily

“No matter what you believe or don’t believe, I think it’s important that people feel like there’s a glimmer of hope,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times

National policies like sugar taxes are vital, but having international coordination is also important in such a sprawling supply chain.

From Salon

To get a better sense of how tariffs can affect spending choices, it's important to understand how tariffs work.

From Salon

Related Words

• eminent
• esteemed
• great
• influential
• of note
• outstanding
• powerful
• prominent