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necessary Definition

nec·es·sary (nes′ə ser′ē)

adjective

  1. that cannot be dispensed with; essential; indispensable the nutriments necessary to life
  2. resulting from necessity; inevitable a necessary result
    1. that must be done; mandatory; not voluntary
    2. not free to choose; compelled by circumstances a necessary agent
  4. inherent in the situation; undeniable; unavoidable from the premises
  5. Archaic rendering some essential and intimate service

Etymology: ME < L necessarius < necesse, unavoidable, necessary < ne-, not + cedere, to give way: see cede

noun pl. -·sar′·ies

  1. a necessary thing; thing essential to life, some purpose, etc.: often used in pl.
  2. Dialectal a privy or toilet
  3. Law those things essential to maintaining a dependent or incompetent in comfort and well-being

necessary Synonyms

necessary

modif.

  1. Essential

    essential, requisite, expedient, needful, indispensable, needed, required, urgent, wanted, imperative, prerequisite, exigent, pressing, vital, cardinal, fundamental, significant, momentous, compulsory, mandatory, basic, paramount, obligatory, essential, compelling, incumbent on, incumbent upon, all-important, nuts-and-bolts, binding, specified, unavoidable, decisive, crucial, elementary, quintessential, chief, principal, prime, intrinsic, fixed, constant, permanent, determinate, inherent, ingrained, innate, without choice, without appeal; see also important 1.

    Antonyms unimportant*, unessential*, insignificant. *

  2. Inevitable

    unavoidable, undeniable, assured; see certain 2, imminent, inevitable.

necessary Usage Examples

Preposition: for

  • purpose: Only information necessary for this purpose will be disclosed to them.

Infinitive complement

  • ensure: Rules are best kept to a minimum, but are necessary to ensure we adhere to the highest standards.
  • protect: We can change details if necessary to protect your identity.
  • achieve: The seismic techniques necessary to achieve such precise control are highly specialized.
  • enable: Through provision of the support necessary to enable the staff to offer high quality services to the user.
  • prevent: They add that urgent immunisations are necessary to prevent potentially devastating outbreaks among schoolchildren.
  • obtain: Assault, theft, harassment or rights abuses are not normally necessary to obtain the sample.

Modifies a noun

  • step: The necessary dosage steps should be determined by your doctor to suit your needs.
  • paperwork: The Boro of Poole will check that everything is in place and will then process the necessary paperwork with the relevant authority.
  • evil: View more Paul Merson quotes A baseball manager is a necessary evil.
  • precaution: Communities will receive training in first aid and necessary health precautions.
  • documentation: Eurostat has not yet provided us with all the necessary supporting documentation.
  • skill: This will lead heritage training courses to begin to produce students with the necessary skills.

Used with adjective complement

  • deem: If any additional input from the Learning Support Teacher was deemed necessary, the parents would always be informed.
  • consider: Rule 9 Appointment of Committees The General Council shall appoint such Committees as they consider necessary to deal with aspects of their business.
  • become: It became necessary to apply to the Chairman of the Militia.
  • prove: Changes in curriculum, pedagogy and indeed assessment style have all proven necessary.
  • seem: Presumably it seemed necessary to assert them in the face of menacing figures like myself.
  • think: This will include a breakdown of the role and a list of skills, experience and personal attributes thought necessary for the job.

Preposition: in

  • order: No previous experience is necessary in order to take part in any of our courses.
necessary Quotes

To these compositions is required neither genius nor knowledge, neither industry nor spriteliness, but contempt of shame, and indifference to truth are absolutely necessary.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

The love of life is necessary to the vigorous prosecution of any undertaking.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

It is necessary for mortals to be worn with toil.

—Euripides

When it isnot necessary to change, it isnecessary not to change.

—Falkland, Lucius Cary,Viscount

Information, freefrominterestorprejudice, freefromthe vanity of the writer or the influence of a Government, is as necessary to the human mind as pure air and water to the human body.

—Rees-Mogg,William Rees-Mogg, Baron

For those who believe in God no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God no explanation is possible.

—Seaton, George pseudonym of  George Stenius

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. No more things should be presumed than is necessary.

—Occam,William of

Notes are often necessary, but they are necessary evils.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves? as they must be if the being subjected to the inconsistent, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of men, be the perfect condition of slavery? and if the essence of freedom consists, as our masters say it does, in having a standing rule to live by? And why is slavery so much condemnedandstroveagainst inonecase, andsohighly applauded, and held so necessary and so sacred in another?

—Astell, Mary

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.

—Hoffman, Hans

I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary.

—Atwood, Margaret Eleanor

Le superflu, chose tre'  s ne¤  cessaire. The superfluous, a very necessary thing.

—Voltaire pseudonym of  Fran c° ois Marie Arouet

Yes, they say, go and write whatever story you want, but don't use whatever language is necessary† By implication those in authority ask the writer to censor and suppressheror his ownwork.Theydemand it.If you don't comply then your work isn't produced.

—Kelman,James