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
Explanation
The verb necessitate shows that something is necessary or needs to happen, as when a sweet tooth can necessitate a trip to the store for a triple-scoop ice cream — which will necessitate a trip to the gym. Synonyms for necessitate are "require" and "force." Although what's required may be serious, necessitate also just labels things that follow naturally from one step to another. A dead car battery might necessitate a long walk home, or your completion of skills tests might necessitate moving up to the next level. Necessitate commonly replaces "need" when doctors talk about treatment, so while your scraped knee might need a big bandage, it may "necessitate treatment with antibiotics" if you go to a clinic.
Vocabulary lists containing necessitate
Metamorphosis
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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.
And with a new 10-year strategy due to be announced this summer, there will be interest in whether missing a second major tournament will necessitate at least some scaling back of ambition.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 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
Continued near-record highs in gold prices could therefore necessitate fresh price increases if Richemont is to protect its margins for the fiscal year, Deutsche says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
The firm previously said improvement would necessitate significant investment over the span of several years, while revenue growth remained subdued.
From Barron's • Jan. 12, 2026
Joe threw his eye over them, and pronounced that the job would necessitate the lighting of his forge fire, and would take nearer two hours than one.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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.
