# essential vs essentially

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### essential
*adjective · IPA /ɪˈsɛn.ʃəl/ · frequency rank #2,440*
Necessary.

### essentially
*adverb · IPA /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/ · frequency rank #3,489*
In an essential way.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/essential-vs-essentially