gravamen

noun

Roget 642: importance, consequence, moment, prominence, consideration, mark, materialness.    import, significance, concern; emphasis, interest.    greatness etc. 31; superiority etc. 33; notability etc. (repute) 873; weight etc. (influence) 175; value etc. (goodness) 648; usefulness etc. 644.    gravity, seriousness, solemnity; no joke, no laughing matter; pressure, urgency, stress; matter of life and death.    memorabilia, notabilia^†, great doings; red-letter day.    great thing, great point; main chance, the be all and the end all" [Macbeth]; cardinal point; substance, gist etc. (essence) 5; sum and substance, gravamen, head and front; important part, principal part, prominent part, essential part; half the battle; sine qua non; breath of one's nostrils etc. (life) 359; cream, salt, core, kernel, heart, nucleus; keynote, keystone; corner stone; trump card etc. (device) 626; salient points.    top sawyer, first fiddle, prima donna [Sp.], chief; triton among the minnows; 'it' [U.S.].   " ... show more

Moby thesaurus: axiom, bench mark, best part, better part, body, bulk, cardinal point, center, chief thing, climax, core, cornerstone, crisis, critical point, crux, elixir, essence, essential, essential matter, flower, focus, fundamental, generality, gist, great point, heart, high point, hypostasis, important thing, inner essence, issue, kernel, keystone, landmark, main body, main point, main thing, major part, majority, marrow, mass, material point, meat, milestone, most, nub, nucleus, nuts and bolts, pith, pivot, plurality, postulate, principle, quid, quiddity, quintessence, real issue, salient point, sap, sine qua non, soul, spirit, stuff, substance, substantive point, the bottom line, the nitty-gritty, the point, thrust, turning point ... show more.

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