necessitate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make necessary or unavoidable.
The breakdown of the car necessitated a change in our plans.
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to compel, oblige, or force.
The new wage demand will necessitate a price increase.
verb
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to cause as an unavoidable and necessary result
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(usually passive) to compel or require (someone to do something)
Other Word Forms
- necessitation noun
- necessitative adjective
- prenecessitate verb (used with object)
- unnecessitated adjective
- unnecessitating adjective
Etymology
Origin of necessitate
1620–30; < Medieval Latin necessitātus, past participle of necessitāre to compel, constrain. See necessity, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The allegations against Cesar Chavez represent a definitive puncturing of the myth surrounding the civil rights icon and necessitate a comprehensive reckoning with how Latino communities elevated him despite warning signs of moral failings.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
Danske’s Carsten Lonborg Madsen had pencilled in a revenue decline of between zero and minus 8% so the minus 5% to minus 13% range will necessitate a downgrade from him.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 4, 2026
What has changed to necessitate a midnight curfew being imposed in Sri Lanka?
From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026
Maersk said it has contingency plans in place should the security situation deteriorate, which may necessitate reverting individual sailings or the wider service back to the Cape of Good Hope route.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
I tried to choose a figure that would not sound too drastic yet would necessitate my coming back to fill in the gaps.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
