vital
Americanadjective
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of or relating to life.
vital processes.
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having remarkable energy, liveliness, or force of personality.
a vital leader.
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being the seat or source of life.
the vital organs.
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necessary to life.
vital fluids.
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necessary to the existence, continuance, or well-being of something; indispensable; essential.
vital for a healthy society.
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affecting the existence, well-being, truth, etc., of something.
a vital error.
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of critical importance.
vital decisions.
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destructive to life; deadly.
a vital wound.
adjective
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essential to maintain life
the lungs perform a vital function
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forceful, energetic, or lively
a vital person
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of, relating to, having, or displaying life
a vital organism
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indispensable or essential
books vital to this study
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of great importance; decisive
a vital game
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archaic influencing the course of life, esp negatively
a vital treachery
noun
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(plural)
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the bodily organs, such as the brain, liver, heart, lungs, etc, that are necessary to maintain life
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the organs of reproduction, esp the male genitals
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(plural) the essential elements of anything
Other Word Forms
- nonvital adjective
- nonvitally adverb
- nonvitalness noun
- quasi-vital adjective
- quasi-vitally adverb
- supervital adjective
- supervitally adverb
- supervitalness noun
- unvital adjective
- unvitally adverb
- unvitalness noun
- vitally adverb
- vitalness noun
Etymology
Origin of vital
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin vītālis, equivalent to vīt(a) “life” (derivative of vīvere “to live”; akin to Greek bioûn, Sanskrit jīvati “(he) lives,” English quick ( def. ) ) + -ālis -al 1 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Throughout this time Metro’s essential rail and bus service has continued to run uninterrupted, as have our vital transit safety and security systems.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026
The vital waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil previously traversed, has been effectively closed since the start of the war.
From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026
In Lore Segal’s fiction, memory is a mine of storytelling wealth—and conversation among friends is the vital thread of life itself, even when all other pleasures have faded.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
But while it may have a new term, social-emotional learning has always been a vital function of education.
From Salon • Mar. 30, 2026
While No. 46 was working on Brown, another operative, No. 28, learned a seemingly vital secret from a young Kaw Indian woman who lived near the western border of Osage County.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
