indispensable

Borrowed from Middle French indispensable, from Medieval Latin indispensābilis, corresponding to in- +‎ dispensable.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌɪndɪˈspɛnsəbəl/

  • Audio (Southern England); [ɪnˈspɛnsəbəl]:

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌɪndɪˈspensəbəl/

indispensable (comparative more indispensable, superlative most indispensable)

1. (ecclesiastical, obsolete) Not admitting ecclesiastical dispensation; not subject to release or exemption; that cannot be allowed by bending the canonical rules. [16th–17th c.]
2. (of duties, rules etc.) Unbendable, that cannot be set aside or ignored. [from 17th c.]
   • 1679–1715, Gilbert Burnet, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of the Reformation of the Church of England., London: […] T[homas] H[odgkin] for Richard Chiswell, […]:

     The law was moral and indispensable.

3. Absolutely necessary or requisite; that one cannot do without. [from 17th c.]

   An indispensable component of a heart-healthy diet.

   • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion‎^[1]:

     But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal. This only magnified the indispensable nature of the oligopolists.

   • 2022 July 7, Boris Johnson, resignation speech‎^[2]:

     And my friends in politics, no-one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.

   • 2025 May 11, Nadeen Ebrahim and Abbas Al Lawati, “Trump is visiting three of the world’s richest nations. Here’s what’s on their wish list”, in CNN‎^[3]:

     Behind this carefully crafted strategy of wooing Trump is a desire from Gulf states to solidify and formalize their positions as the US’ indispensable security and economic partners, and extract as much benefit for themselves as they can.

• See also Thesaurus:requisite

• dispensable

• indispensability
• indispensable nation
• indispensableness
• indispensably

indispensable (plural indispensables)

1. A thing that is not dispensable; a necessity. [from 17th c.]
2. (in the plural, colloquial, dated) Trousers. [from 19th c.]

From in- +‎ dispensable.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [in.dis.pənˈsab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.dis.penˈsa.ble]
• Hyphenation: in‧dis‧pen‧sa‧ble

indispensable m or f (masculine and feminine plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

   Antonym: dispensable

• “indispensable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “indispensable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.dis.pɑ̃.sabl/

• Audio:

  (file)

indispensable (plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

• “indispensable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From in- +‎ dispensable.

• IPA^(key): /indispenˈsable/ [ĩn̪.d̪is.pẽnˈsa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧dis‧pen‧sa‧ble

indispensable m or f (masculine and feminine plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

   Synonym: imprescindible

   Antonym: dispensable

• “indispensable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024