substantial

English

Etymology

From Old French substantiel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səbˈstænʃəl/

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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Adjective

substantial (comparative more substantial, superlative most substantial)

1. Having a substance; actually existing.

   substantial life

2. Not imaginary; real; actual; true; veritable.
   • 1850s, Cardinal John Henry Newman, The Rise and Progress of Universities

     to do some substantial good, is the compensation for much incidental imperfection

3. Corporeal; material; firm.
4. Having good substance; strong; stout; solid; firm.

   substantial cloth

   a substantial fence or wall

5. Possessed of goods or an estate; moderately wealthy.

   a substantial freeholder

6. Large in size, quantity, or value; ample; significant.

   He inherited a substantial amount of money from his uncle.

   A substantial number of people went to the event.

7. Most important; essential.
8. Satisfying; having sufficient substance to be nourishing or filling.

   I don't just want a snack; I need something substantial.

   Teddy had a few crackers in his backpack, but he needed something more substantial if he was to survive a three-day trek.

   • 1992, “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”, in Automatic for the People, performed by R.E.M.:

     Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me / Today I need something more sub-sub-sub-substantial / A can of beans or black-eyed peas, some Nescafe and ice

Derived terms

• consubstantial
• insubstantial
• substantiality
• substantially
• substantialness

Translations

having substance, actually existing

• Azerbaijani: maddi (az)
• Bulgarian: материален (bg) (materialen), веществен (bg) (veštestven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 物質的 / 物质的 (zh) (wùzhì de, wùzhí de)

• Czech: hmotný (cs)
• Finnish: todellinen (fi)
• French: substantiel (fr)
• Galician: substancial (gl)
• Greek: ουσιώδης (el) (ousiódis)
• Hungarian: lényeges (hu)
• Italian: sostanziale (it)
• Japanese: 物質的な (busshitsu-teki na), 現実の (ja) (genjitsu no)
• Maori: whaikiko
• Portuguese: substancial (pt)
• Romanian: substanțial (ro)
• Russian: веще́ственный (ru) (veščéstvennyj), материа́льный (ru) (materiálʹnyj)
• Spanish: sustancial (es), substancial (es)

not imaginary; real; veritable

• Arabic: حَقِيقِيّ (ḥaqīqiyy)
• Bulgarian: реален (bg) (realen), действителен (bg) (dejstvitelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 實際 / 实际 (zh) (shíjì)

• Czech: opravdový (cs)
• Finnish: todellinen (fi)
• Greek: ουσιώδης (el) (ousiódis)
• Hungarian: való (hu), valódi (hu)
• Japanese: 現実の (ja) (genjitsu no), 実際の (ja) (jissai no)
• Russian: настоя́щий (ru) (nastojáščij), реа́льный (ru) (reálʹnyj), действи́тельный (ru) (dejstvítelʹnyj)

corporeal

• Bulgarian: веществен (bg) (veštestven)
• Czech: hmotný (cs)
• Finnish: todellinen (fi)
• Greek: ουσιώδης (el) (ousiódis)
• Italian: consistente (it)
• Japanese: 現実の (ja) (genjitsu no), 実際の (ja) (jissai no)
• Russian: веще́ственный (ru) (veščéstvennyj), материа́льный (ru) (materiálʹnyj)

having good substance; strong; firm

• Bulgarian: солиден (bg) (soliden)
• Czech: bytelný (cs)
• Finnish: tukeva (fi), tuhti (fi)
• Galician: substancial (gl)
• Hungarian: szilárd (hu), tartós (hu)
• Irish: téagartha
• Italian: sostanzioso (it), forte (it)
• Japanese: 堅固な (ja) (kenko na), 頑丈な (ja) (ganjō na)
• Portuguese: substancial (pt), substancioso
• Russian: про́чный (ru) (próčnyj), кре́пкий (ru) (krépkij), соли́дный (ru) (solídnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: susbainteach
• Spanish: enjundioso (es)

possessed of goods or an estate

• Bulgarian: заможен (bg) (zamožen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 殷實 (zh) (yīnshí)

• Finnish: vauras (fi)
• Hungarian: gazdag (hu), vagyonos (hu), tehetős (hu), jómódú (hu)
• Japanese: 裕福な (ja) (yūfuku na)
• Russian: соли́дный (ru) (solídnyj), зажи́точный (ru) (zažítočnyj), обеспе́ченный (ru) (obespéčennyj), состоя́тельный (ru) (sostojátelʹnyj)

large in size, quantity or value

• Azerbaijani: dolğun
• Bulgarian: значителен (bg) (značitelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大量 (zh) (dàliàng)

• Czech: podstatný (cs)
• Finnish: huomattava (fi), runsas (fi)
• French: substantiel (fr)
• German: wesentlich (de)
• Hungarian: tekintélyes (hu), bőséges (hu)
• Irish: suntasach, mór, nach beag
• Italian: sostanzioso (it), considerevole (it)
• Japanese: 大量の (ja) (tairyō no)
• Portuguese: substancial (pt)
• Russian: значи́тельный (ru) (značítelʹnyj), суще́ственный (ru) (suščéstvennyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: susbainteach
• Spanish: cuantioso (es)

most important; essential

• Bulgarian: съществен (bg) (sǎštestven)
• Czech: podstatný (cs)
• Finnish: oleellinen (fi), olennainen (fi)
• French: substantiel (fr)
• German: wesentlich (de), essenziell (de), substanziell (de)
• Greek: ουσιαστικός (el) (ousiastikós)
• Hungarian: lényegi (hu), alapvető (hu)
• Italian: sostanziale (it), significativo (it), notevole (it)
• Japanese: 実質的な (ja) (jisshitsuteki na)
• Portuguese: substancial (pt)
• Russian: суще́ственный (ru) (suščéstvennyj), ва́жный (ru) (vážnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: susbainteach

satisfying

• French: substantiel (fr)
• Italian: corposo (it), sostanzioso (it)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} حَقِيقِيّ (ḥaqīqiyy)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} substantieel (nl)
• German: ^{(please verify)} wesentlich (de)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} sostanziale (it)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 실재하는 (siljaehaneun)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 實際 / 实际 (zh) (shíjì), ^{(please verify)} 实际 (zh) (shíjì)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} vesentlig
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} väsentlig (sv)

Noun

substantial (plural substantials)

1. Anything having substance; an essential part.