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Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak

CEO of Professional Science Editing for Scientists @ prosciediting.com

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strictly essential

Grammar usage guide and real-world examples

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "strictly essential" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to emphasize that something is absolutely necessary or required without any exceptions. Example: "In order to complete the project on time, we need to focus on strictly essential tasks only."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

40 human-written examples

She tried her absolute best to cut things that weren't strictly essential.

This cutoff may include both genes that are strictly essential and those that are non-essential but confer increased fitness.

Science & Research

Nature

We know no more about each character than is strictly essential for the purposes of the narrative.

News & Media

Independent

But among much that is not strictly essential there are peaks of incident which set your heart pounding and fire your blood.

News & Media

The New York Times

While the £8.50 reportedly spent on chocolate and crisps (foods often craved by women during their period) every month is perhaps not strictly essential, it's likely all would agree sanitary products are.

Together, these findings highlight that LEDGF/p75 is an important albeit not strictly essential cofactor of lentiviral DNA integration, and solidify a role for chromatin-associated LEDGF/p75 as a receptor for lentiviral preintegration complexes.

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Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

20 human-written examples

Ignoring all injunctions to Only Travel if Strictly Necessary – an essential first step in adaptation – I found myself on the most exciting drive of my life.

The predicted secondary structure of SL1 consists of an upper stem with a GC-rich loop that facilitates dimerization, a lower stem, and an intervening bulge (G5, A24 G25 G26) that is both strictly conserved and essential for efficient packaging of the viral genome.

With the growing popularity of using QSAR predictions towards regulatory purposes, such predictive models are now required to be strictly validated, an essential feature of which is to have the model's Applicability Domain (AD) defined clearly.

Strictly necessary cookies are essential to navigate around a website and use its features.

News & Media

Independent

Different from most of other meshless methods such as element-free Galerkin method or those based on radial basis functions, the shape functions used in NEM are constructed by the natural neighbor interpolations, which are strictly interpolant and the essential boundary conditions can be imposed directly.

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Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "strictly essential" to emphasize that something is indispensable and cannot be compromised. It adds a layer of non-negotiability to the requirement.

Common error

Avoid using "strictly essential" for tasks or items that are merely helpful or convenient. Reserve it for situations where the absence would lead to significant problems or failure.

Antonio Rotolo, PhD - Digital Humanist | Computational Linguist | CEO @Ludwig.guru

Antonio Rotolo, PhD

Digital Humanist | Computational Linguist | CEO @Ludwig.guru

Source & Trust

82%

Authority and reliability

4.5/5

Expert rating

Real-world application tested

Linguistic Context

The phrase "strictly essential" functions as an adjective phrase modifying a noun. It emphasizes the absolute necessity of the modified noun, indicating that it is indispensable. As Ludwig AI confirms, it is a correct and usable English expression.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

Science

54%

News & Media

24%

Wiki

14%

Less common in

Formal & Business

4%

Academia

2%

Encyclopedias

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "strictly essential" is a grammatically sound and frequently used phrase, as confirmed by Ludwig AI. It functions as an adjective phrase, emphasizing the absolute necessity of something. While versatile across contexts—from scientific literature to news articles—it's most impactful when used to highlight non-negotiable requirements. For variety, alternatives such as "absolutely necessary" or "fundamentally required" can be used. To maximize impact, use "strictly essential" judiciously, reserving it for contexts where the absence of the described element would lead to significant consequences.

FAQs

How can I use "strictly essential" in a sentence?

Use "strictly essential" to describe elements or actions that are absolutely necessary and cannot be omitted. For example, "Focus on the "strictly essential" steps to complete the project on time."

What are some alternatives to "strictly essential"?

You can use alternatives like "absolutely necessary", "fundamentally required", or "indispensable" depending on the specific nuance you want to convey.

Is it redundant to say "strictly essential"?

While "essential" already implies necessity, adding "strictly" emphasizes the absolute and non-negotiable nature of the requirement. It's useful for clarity in situations where the level of necessity needs to be highlighted.

What's the difference between "strictly essential" and "important"?

"Important" indicates something of significance, while "strictly essential" denotes something without which a process or outcome is impossible. Something can be important without being "strictly essential".

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Real-world application tested

Most frequent sentences: