fundamental
adjective
fun·da·men·tal
| \ ˌfən-də-ˈmen-tᵊl
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Definition of fundamental
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: serving as a basis supporting existence or determining essential structure or function : basic
Responsibility is fundamental to democracy. The Constitution ensures our fundamental rights.
b
: serving as an original or generating source : primary
a discovery fundamental to modern computers
2a
: of or relating to essential structure, function, or facts : radical
fundamental change
also
: of or dealing with general principles rather than practical application
fundamental science
b
: adhering to fundamentalism
a preacher who is evangelical, Bible-teaching, and fundamental
3
: of central importance : principal
fundamental purpose such fundamental events as birth, marriage, and death
4
: belonging to one's innate or ingrained characteristics : deep-rooted
her fundamental good humor
5
: of, relating to, or produced by the lowest component of a complex vibration (see vibration sense 1)
fundamental
nounDefinition of fundamental (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: something fundamental
especially
: one of the minimum constituents without which a thing or a system would not be what it is
2a
: the principal musical tone produced by vibration (as of a string or column of air) on which a series of higher harmonics is based
b
: the root of a chord
3
: the harmonic component of a complex wave that has the lowest frequency and commonly the greatest amplitude
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Other Words from fundamental
Adjective
fundamentally
\ ˌfən-də-ˈmen-tᵊl-ē
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adverb
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adverb
Synonyms & Antonyms for fundamental
Synonyms: Adjective
abecedarian, basal, basic, beginning, elemental, elementary, essential, introductory, meat-and-potatoes, rudimental, rudimentary, underlying
Antonyms: Adjective
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Examples of fundamental in a Sentence
Adjective
The Constitution ensures our fundamental rights. There's a fundamental difference between these two political parties. These ideas are of fundamental importance. The revolution brought about a fundamental change in the country. We need to make some fundamental changes in the way we do business. We need to address these problems on a more fundamental level.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
But promises without a fundamental shift in thinking will simply become empty promises. — Kerry Pieri, Harper's BAZAAR, "You Don't Have to Vote for Marianne Williamson—Just Don't Call Her Crazy," 2 Aug. 2019 Something fundamental, a true fault line under the franchise. — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com, "A day at Cleveland Browns camp looking for something to criticize: Doug Lesmerises," 30 July 2019 But a more fundamental question is, Why did some companies patch, while others neglected to? — Robert Hackett, Fortune, "What Separates the Hacks and the Hack-Nots—Cyber Saturday," 27 July 2019 The most fundamental is that the seller has a lot more information about the condition of the property than the potential buyer. — Karl W. Smith, Twin Cities, "Karl W. Smith: The next housing bubble could come from technology," 18 July 2019 Despite Apollo’s robust scientific legacy, there were still fundamental questions that were left unanswered for decades after the last human left the moon in 1972 and the last Soviet lander departed shortly thereafter. — Daniel Oberhaus, WIRED, "Lunar Mysteries That Science Still Needs to Solve," 16 July 2019 The most fundamental is that the seller has a lot more information about the condition of the property than the potential buyer. — Karl W. Smith, latimes.com, "The next housing bubble could come from this technology," 1 July 2019 In their view, as well as Hertog’s, and apparently Hawking’s, the contour is not fundamental, but rather a mathematical tool that can be placed to greatest advantage. — Quanta Magazine, "Physicists Debate Hawking’s Idea That the Universe Had No Beginning," 6 June 2019 Most Americans view this as a fundamental question of individual rights and family decision making. — Ilyse Hogue, Glamour, "Attention Corporate America, Women Need to Know That You Support Their Reproductive Rights," 23 Apr. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
How they are stopped Firefighters battle blazes by depriving them of one or more of the fire triangle fundamentals. — Claire Wolters, National Geographic, "Wildfires, explained," 11 Aug. 2019 So all of that, underlying fundamentals for the consumer spending part of the economy . . . — Washington Post, "U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs and the unemployment rate is 3.7%.," 5 July 2019 Get our daily newsletter Yet beneath the lofty aims, Labour would preserve many of the fundamentals of Britain’s foreign policy. — The Economist, "The Corbyn doctrine on foreign policy," 6 June 2019 Does this reflect a poor understanding of economic fundamentals or the protection of wealthy property owners at the expense of the working class in California? — WSJ, "More Housing Would Mean Cheaper Housing," 25 Jan. 2019 The Astros had three coaches who shared the responsibilities of instructing and teaching the players the fundamentals of the game. — Emmett Hall, sun-sentinel.com, "Astros flying high after championship baseball run," 19 June 2019 The worker-ownership proposals Sanders is expected to unveil will be his first in keeping with the fundamentals of that broad vision. — Osita Nwanevu, The New Yorker, "Bernie Sanders’s Walmart Speech May Offer a Preview of Larger Labor Proposals," 7 June 2019 Digital technology doesn’t change the fundamentals. — Jack Greiner, Cincinnati.com, "Can the police seize my iPhone? Columnist Jack Greiner answers," 19 Apr. 2018 These visionary thinkers are redefining the fundamentals of charitable giving and changing our view of philanthropy's impact on modern society. — Town & Country, "The Schedule for T&C's 2015 Philanthropy Summit," 6 Apr. 2015These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fundamental.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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