# basic

Pronunciation: say "BAY-sik" /ˈbeɪsɪk/

## Adjective

1. Forming the simplest or most fundamental level, with no extra features beyond what is strictly needed.
   - Simple: Simple and plain, covering only what is needed and nothing extra.
   - _The apartment offered only basic amenities: a stove, a bed, and a small table._
   - _His grasp of the software stayed basic, enough to send emails but little more._
2. Necessary or essential, either for life itself or for some process to function.
   - Simple: Needed for life or for something to work properly.
   - _Access to basic healthcare remains limited in many rural regions._
   - _These protections are considered basic to a functioning democracy._
6. Dull and uncool because of following mainstream tastes and trends, with no style or originality of one's own. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Ordinary and boring, not cool or interesting.
   - _Critics dismissed the playlist as basic, full of overplayed hits._
   - _He worried his taste in movies seemed basic to his film-buff friends._
5. Having the chemical properties of a base, with a pH greater than 7.
   - Simple: Acting like a base in chemistry, with a pH higher than 7, the opposite of acidic.
   - _The solution turned litmus paper blue because it was strongly basic._
   - _Ammonia is basic and neutralizes acids on contact._

## Noun

3. An elementary piece of knowledge or skill on which more advanced learning is built.
   - Simple: A simple piece of knowledge or skill that harder things build on.
   - _The coach spent the first month on basics like passing and footwork, saying the fancy plays could wait._
   - _Before the experiment, she reviewed the basics of lab safety._
4. A necessary commodity or staple that people regularly require.
   - Simple: An item people regularly need, such as food, clothing, or household supplies.
   - _Flour is a pantry basic, so when its price goes up, families feel it in almost every meal._
   - _Aid trucks delivered basics such as flour, oil, and clean water._
7. The initial training period that new military recruits must complete.
   - Simple: The first training that people joining the military must complete.
   - _She wrote home every week during basic._
   - _Recruits dread the freezing early mornings of basic._

## Origin

Formed from "base" combined with the suffix "-ic".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/basic (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).