Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for

necessary

[ nes-uh-ser-ee ]

adjective

  1. essential, indispensable, or requisite:

    The rotor is a necessary part of the motor.

    Synonyms:

    Antonyms:

  2. happening or existing by necessity:

    The snow has forced a necessary change in our plans.

  3. acting or proceeding from compulsion or necessity; not free; involuntary:

    a necessary agent.

  4. Logic.
    1. (of a proposition) such that a denial of it involves a self-contradiction.
    2. (of an inference or argument) such that its conclusion cannot be false if its supporting premises are true.
    3. (of a condition) such that it must exist if a given event is to occur or a given thing is to exist. Compare sufficient ( def 2 ).


noun

plural necessaries.
  1. something necessary or required for a particular purpose; necessity.

    Synonyms: , ,

  2. necessaries, Law. food, clothing, etc., required by a dependent person and varying with their social or economic position or that of the person upon whom they are dependent.
  3. Chiefly New England. a privy or toilet.

necessary

/ ˈɛɪəɪ /

adjective

  1. needed to achieve a certain desired effect or result; required
  2. resulting from necessity; inevitable

    the necessary consequences of your action

  3. logic
    1. (of a statement, formula, etc) true under all interpretations or in all possible circumstances
    2. (of a proposition) determined to be true by its meaning, so that its denial would be self-contradictory
    3. (of a property) essential, so that without it its subject would not be the entity it is
    4. (of an inference) always yielding a true conclusion when its premises are true; valid
    5. (of a condition) entailed by the truth of some statement or the obtaining of some state of affairs Compare sufficient
  4. philosophy (in a nonlogical sense) expressing a law of nature, so that if it is in this sense necessary that all As are B, even although it is not contradictory to conceive of an A which is not B, we are licensed to infer that if something were an A it would have to be B
  5. rare.
    compelled, as by necessity or law; not free
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the necessary informal.
    the money required for a particular purpose
  2. do the necessary informal.
    to do something that is necessary in a particular situation
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Other Word Forms

  • ԱIJ·i·Ա noun
  • ܲȴ-ԱIJ·y adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of necessary1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English necessarie, from Latin Ա𳦱ܲ “unavoidable, inevitable, needful,” equivalent to necess(e) (neuter indeclinable adjective) “unavoidable, necessary” + -ary
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of necessary1

C14: from Latin Ա𳦱ܲ indispensable, from necesse unavoidable
Discover More

Synonym Study

Necessary, essential, indispensable, requisite indicate something vital for the fulfillment of a need. Necessary applies to something without which a condition cannot be fulfilled or to an inevitable consequence of certain events, conditions, etc.: Food is necessary to life. Multiplicity is a necessary result of division. Indispensable applies to something that cannot be done without or removed from the rest of a unitary condition: Food is indispensable to living things. He made himself indispensable as a companion. Something that is essential forms a vitally necessary condition of something: Air is essential to red-blooded animals. It is essential to understand the matter clearly. Requisite applies to what is thought necessary to fill out, complete, or perfect something: She had all the requisite qualifications for a position.
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"Russia rejects all this. Without pressure this cannot be resolved. Pressure on Russia is necessary."

From

Indeed, learning and the necessary process of memory formation and retrieval are key to the specialized roles played by concept cells and some of our other specialized neurons.

From

Ms Cartwright added that while she was given "full, unfettered access", both the FA and Sheffield United had sought redactions before onward disclosure, and she had considered additional ones necessary.

From

Game 5, if necessary, will be at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.

From

Chinese President Xi Jinping's government has repeatedly said it is open to dialogue, but warned that, if necessary, it would "fight to the end".

From

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


necessarilynecessary condition