The present invention relates to a liquid-crystalline medium based on a mixture of polar compounds having negative dielectric anisotropy (), which is distinguished by the fact that it has a value for the ratio .sub.1/n.sup.2 in the range 6-45 with a clearing point of >60 C. and a of 2.3. Media of this type are particularly suitable for electro-optical displays having active-matrix addressing based on the ECB, PA LCD, FFS or IPS effect.

The present invention relates to a nematic liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable compound and having a negative dielectric anisotropy () and PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display element produced by using the same. The liquid crystal composition according to the present invention can provide PSA or PSVA liquid crystal display element, in which a sufficient pretilt angle is included, the amount of remaining monomer is small, there are no or almost no problems, e.g., alignment defects and display defects, arisen from a low voltage holding rate (VHR) and the like, and excellent response performance is exhibited. A liquid crystal display element using the liquid crystal composition according to the present invention is useful for an active-matrix-drive liquid crystal display element and can be applied to PSA, PSVA, and other liquid crystal display elements.