substance

UK: /ˈsʌbstəns/ US: /ˈsʌbstəns/ ,(sub′stəns)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

sub•stance /ˈsʌbstəns/   n. 

1. the physical matter that makes up some thing, object, etc.;
   the actual matter of a thing as opposed to its appearance:
   [uncountable] form and substance.
2. Chemistry a particular kind of material, as of a definite chemical composition:
   [countable] a metallic substance.
3. substantial, important, significant, or solid character or quality:
   [uncountable] Those claims lack substance.
4. the meaning or gist, as of speech or writing:
   [uncountable] The substance of his speech was: There was no money left for anybody.

Idioms

5. Idioms in substance, concerning the essentials;
   essentially:
   In substance, the speech was a warning that there is no money for the programs he had promised.
6. of substance, having wealth, importance, or rank in a community:
   She was a woman of substance in the community.

See -stan-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

sub•stance  (sub′stəns), n. 

1. that of which a thing consists;
   physical matter or material:
   form and substance.
2. Chemistry a species of matter of definite chemical composition:
   a chalky substance.
3. Government, Law See controlled substance. 
4. the subject matter of thought, discourse, study, etc.
5. the actual matter of a thing, as opposed to the appearance or shadow;
   reality.
6. substantial or solid character or quality:
   claims lacking in substance.
7. consistency;
   body:
   soup without much substance.
8. the meaning or gist, as of speech or writing.
9. something that has separate or independent existence.
10. Philosophy
    • Philosophy something that exists by itself and in which accidents or attributes inhere;
      that which receives modifications and is not itself a mode;
      something that is causally active;
      something that is more than an event.
    • Philosophy the essential part of a thing;
      essence.
    • Philosophy a thing considered as a continuing whole.
11. possessions, means, or wealth:
    to squander one's substance.
12. Linguistics the articulatory or acoustic reality or the perceptual manifestation of a word or other construction (distinguished from form).
13. a standard of weights for paper.
14. in substance:
    • concerning the essentials;
      substantially.
    • actually;
      really:
      That is in substance how it appeared to me.

• Latin substantia substance, essence (literally, that which stands under, i.e., underlies), equivalent. to sub- sub- + -stant- (stem of stāns, present participle of stāre to stand) + -ia -ia (see -ance)
• Middle English 1250–1300

sub′stance•less, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. See matter. 
• 4. theme, subject.
• 4, 5.
• 8. essence.
• 8. significance, import, pith.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

substance / ˈsʌbstəns/ noun

1. the tangible matter of which a thing consists
2. a specific type of matter, esp a homogeneous material with a definite composition
3. the essence, meaning, etc, of a written or spoken thought
4. solid or meaningful quality
5. material density: a vacuum has no substance
6. material possessions or wealth: a man of substance
7. the supposed immaterial substratum that can receive modifications and in which attributes and accidents inhere
8. in substance ⇒ with regard to the salient points

Etymology: 13th Century: via Old French from Latin substantia, from substāre, from sub- + stāre to stand