A liquid crystal composition having a negative dielectric anisotropy that includes three components, wherein the first component is at least one compound selected from the group of compounds represented by Formulas (1-1) to (1-6), the second component is at least one compound selected from the group of compounds represented by Formula (2), and the third component is at least one compound selected from the group of compounds represented by Formulas (3-1) and (3-2): ##STR00001## wherein, for example, R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.4 and R.sup.5 are alkyl having 1 to 12 carbons; X.sup.1 and X.sup.2 are fluorine; Z.sup.1, Z.sup.2, Z.sup.3, Z.sup.4, Z.sup.5 and Z.sup.6 are a single bond; and ring A, ring B, ring C and ring D are 1,4-cyclohexylene or 1,4-phenylene.