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primary

adjective · noun

Words like primary

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36 words · adjective, nounSort by

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Similar meaningadjective

capital

Similar meaningadjective

direct

Similar meaningadjective

first-string

Similar meaningadjective

firsthand

Similar meaningadjective

important

Similar meaningadjective

Related words aren’t always interchangeable. Check the definition before you choose.

MEANING & USAGE

Definitions & examples

01adjective

of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary

“primary goals”

“a primary effect”

02adjective

not derived from or reducible to something else; basic

“a primary instinct”

03adjective

most important element

“the chief aim of living”

“the main doors were of solid glass”

04adjective

of or being the essential or basic part

“an elementary need for love and nurturing”

“a basal reader”

4 more meanings

05noun

a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen

06noun

one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing

07noun

(astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it

08noun

coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit

“current through the primary coil induces current in the secondary coil”

Meanings and examples from Open English WordNet 2025. About our sources ↗

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Expressions with “primary”

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Explore multiword dictionary entries containing this word. Each has its own meanings and related words.

open primary primary care primary cell primary coil primary color primary quill primary tooth closed primary