substance

[suhb-stuhns]

noun

1. that of which a thing consists; physical matter or material.

   form and substance.

2. a species of matter of definite chemical composition.

   a chalky substance.

3. controlled substance.

4. the subject matter of thought, discourse, study, etc.

   Synonyms: subject, theme

5. the actual matter of a thing, as opposed to the appearance or shadow; reality.

   Synonyms: essence

6. substantial or solid character or quality.

   claims lacking in substance.

7. consistency; body.

   soup without much substance.

8. the meaning or gist, as of speech or writing.

   Synonyms: pith, import, significance

9. something that has separate or independent existence.

10. Philosophy.

    1. something that exists by itself and in which accidents or attributes inhere; that which receives modifications and is not itself a mode; something that is causally active; something that is more than an event.

    2. the essential part of a thing; essence.

    3. a thing considered as a continuing whole.

11. possessions, means, or wealth.

    to squander one's substance.

12. Linguistics.,  the articulatory or acoustic reality or the perceptual manifestation of a word or other construction (form ).

13. a standard of weights for paper.

substance

/ ˈsʌbstəns /

noun

1. the tangible matter of which a thing consists

2. a specific type of matter, esp a homogeneous material with a definite composition

3. the essence, meaning, etc, of a written or spoken thought

4. solid or meaningful quality

5. material density

   a vacuum has no substance

6. material possessions or wealth

   a man of substance

7. philosophy

   1. the supposed immaterial substratum that can receive modifications and in which attributes and accidents inhere

   2. a thing considered as a continuing whole that survives the changeability of its properties

8. Christian Science that which is eternal

9. a euphemistic term for any illegal drug

10. with regard to the salient points

Other Word Forms

• substanceless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of substance¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin substantia “substance, essence” (literally, “that which stands under, i.e., underlies”), equivalent to sub- “under, beneath” + -stant- (stem of stāns, present participle of stāre “to stand”) + -ia noun suffix; sub-, stand, -ia; -ance

Word History and Origins

Origin of substance¹

C13: via Old French from Latin substantia, from substāre, from _sub- + stāre to stand

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in substance,

   1. concerning the essentials; substantially.

   2. actually; really.

      That is in substance how it appeared to me.

see in substance; sum and substance.

Synonym Study

See matter.

Example Sentences

Footage shows the police and navy surrounding the vessel before boarding, seizing the Class A substance and arresting four crew members, who are said to be from South America.

Read more on BBC

Last December 19 prisoners required emergency hospital treatment after taking illicit substances.

Read more on BBC

Jones was eventually drawn into the scandal, and after years of denials, later admitted to lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing substances.

Read more on Barron's

Perry struggled with addiction and spoke openly about his experiences with substance abuse and his recovery efforts in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

There’s substance to this, but it shouldn’t be overstated.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• amount 
• effect 
• meat 
• significance 
• strength 
• stuff 
• subject