Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Considerable in importance, value, degree, amount, or extent.
  • adjective Solidly built; strong.
  • adjective Ample; sustaining.
  • adjective Possessing wealth or property; well-to-do.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or having substance; material.
  • adjective True or real; not imaginary.
  • adjective Achieving the goal of justice itself, not merely the procedure or form that is a means to justice.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or of the nature of substance; being a substance; real; actually existing; true; actual; not seeming or imaginary; not illusive.
  • Having essential value; genuine; sound; sterling.
  • Having firm or good material; strong; stout; solid: as, substantial cloth.
  • Possessed of considerable substance, goods, or estate; moderately wealthy; well-to-do.
  • Real or true in the main or for the most part: as, substantial success.
  • Of considerable amount: as, a substantial gift; substantial profit.
  • Capable of being substantiated or proved.
  • Vital; important.
  • In law, pertaining to or involving the merits or essential right, in contradistinction to questions of form or manner.
  • Pertaining to the substance or tissue of any part or organ.
  • noun That which has a real existence; that which has substance.
  • noun That which has real practical value.
  • noun An essential part.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Belonging to substance; actually existing; real.
  • adjective Not seeming or imaginary; not illusive; real; solid; true; veritable.
  • adjective Corporeal; material; firm.
  • adjective Having good substance; strong; stout; solid; firm.
  • adjective Possessed of goods or an estate; moderately wealthy; responsible.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Belonging to substance; actually existing; real; as, substantial life.
  • adjective Not seeming or imaginary; not illusive; real; solid; true; veritable.
  • adjective Corporeal; material; firm.
  • adjective Having good substance; strong; stout; solid; firm; as, substantial cloth; a substantial fence or wall.
  • adjective possessed of goods or an estate; moderately wealthy; responsible; as, a substantial freeholder.
  • adjective Large in size, quantity, or value; as, a substantial amount of money; vast
  • adjective Most important; essential.
  • adjective Ample or full.
  • adjective Significantly great.
  • noun Anything having substance; an essential part.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not imaginary
  • adjective fairly large
  • adjective of good quality and condition; solidly built
  • adjective having a firm basis in reality and being therefore important, meaningful, or considerable
  • adjective providing abundant nourishment

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English substancial, from Old French substantiel, from Latin substantiālis, from substantia, substance; see substance.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French substantiel.

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Examples

  • Both the north and south are hoping for what they term substantial progress at that meeting which starts on Tuesday.

    CNN Transcript Jul 24, 2005 2005

  • As a practical matter, the term substantial compliance means just that; complying with the minimum standards as required by SORNA.

    Sex Offender Issues 2009

  • China's President welcomes his Sudan counterpartHu said he believes the trip will consolidate Chinese-Sudanese friendship and promote what he called "substantial" cooperation in various fields.

    China Pledges Lasting Friendship with Sudan 2011

  • China's President welcomes his Sudan counterpartHu said he believes the trip will consolidate Chinese-Sudanese friendship and promote what he called "substantial" cooperation in various fields.

    China Pledges Lasting Friendship with Sudan 2011

  • China's President welcomes his Sudan counterpartHu said he believes the trip will consolidate Chinese-Sudanese friendship and promote what he called "substantial" cooperation in various fields.

    China Pledges Lasting Friendship with Sudan 2011

  • The men tell Mr. Schiller that they are considering donating as much as $5 million to NPR because of what they describe as the substantial "Zionist coverage" by other news organizations.

    NPR Executive Quits After Video Comments Russell Adams 2011

  • Economic risks remain, Mr. Draghi said, but he dropped the word "substantial," which he had previously used in describing those risks.

    Draghi Urges Banks to Take ECB's Cheap Loans Brian Blackstone 2012

  • That's hardly what I call a substantial lead worth gloating over.

    Poll: Hillary Beating The Republicans In Florida 2009

  • You know, Director Mueller says that he has what he calls substantial concerns about a possible terror attack, even though he says there's no specific intelligence suggesting that any attack on the U.S. is imminent.

    CNN Transcript Sep 11, 2007 2007

  • ARENA: Now as for the overall threat environment, Mueller says there isn't any intelligence suggesting that any attack against the United States is imminent but he says he does have what he called substantial concerns.

    CNN Transcript Sep 10, 2007 2007

Comments

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  • From the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. pg. 55

    "Then I stuff down every mouthful I can hold, which is a substantial amount, being careful to not overdo it on the richest stuff."

    November 29, 2010