necessity

American  

[nuh-ses-i-tee] / nəˈsɛs ɪ ti /

noun

• necessities
  plural

1. something necessary or indispensable.

   food, shelter, and other necessities of life.

2. the fact of being necessary or indispensable; indispensability.

   the necessity of adequate housing.

3. an imperative requirement or need for something.

   the necessity for a quick decision.

   Synonyms:

   demand

4. the state or fact of being necessary or inevitable.

   to face the necessity of testifying in court.

5. an unavoidable need or compulsion to do something.

   not by choice but by necessity.

6. a state of being in financial need; poverty.

   a family in dire necessity.

   Synonyms:

   want, indigence, neediness

7. Philosophy. the quality of following inevitably from logical, physical, or moral laws.

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idioms

1. of necessity, as an inevitable result; unavoidably; necessarily.

   Our trip to China must of necessity be postponed for a while.

necessity British  

/ nɪˈsɛsɪtɪ /

noun

1. (sometimes plural) something needed for a desired result; prerequisite

   necessities of life

2. a condition or set of circumstances, such as physical laws or social rules, that inevitably requires a certain result

   it is a matter of necessity to wear formal clothes when meeting the Queen

3. the state or quality of being obligatory or unavoidable

4. urgent requirement, as in an emergency or misfortune

   in time of necessity we must all work together

5. poverty or want

6. rare compulsion through laws of nature; fate

7. philosophy

   1. a condition, principle, or conclusion that cannot be otherwise

   2. the constraining force of physical determinants on all aspects of life Compare freedom

8. logic

   1. the property of being necessary

   2. a statement asserting that some property is essential or statement is necessarily true

   3. the operator that indicates that the expression it modifies is true in all possible worlds

9. inevitably; necessarily

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necessity More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing necessity

• make a virtue of necessity
• of necessity

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Synonym Usage

See need.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonnecessity
  noun
• supernecessity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• necessities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of necessity

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English necessite, from Latin necessitās, from necess(e) “needful” + -itās -ity

Explanation

A good camping knife is a necessity if you’re going to be hiking in a heavily forested region. A necessity is something that you must have in order to complete a task. When used in the plural, necessities are items required for a situation but nothing extra. You probably only bring the bare necessities to a sleepover — pajamas and a toothbrush. Sometimes a necessity is a thing you must know how to do. Knowing how to balance your checkbook is a financial necessity. In some cases, necessity simply means "need." Do you do your homework out of necessity or because you want to?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

necessity necessities

In a world where “high leverage” is the trendy jargon, maybe a closer is more of an anachronism than a necessity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

She says she trained in disguise out of necessity before then in an effort to avoid being attacked, in a country where women's rights are heavily restricted.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

"They've all made statements about the necessity of being careful of the potential for AI takeover. They've all talked about this. AI takeover implies human extinction," Coxon said.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

The study’s authors effectively found that necessity is the mother of invention.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

Somewhere between these positions is where I want us to end up: staunch because we understand the advantages of being staunch; flexible because we understand the rational and historical necessity to be flexible.

From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author

Persistent inflation has disproportionately impacted low-income households, which spend more of their income on necessities, said Alexander Smith, associate economics professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Department of Social Science and Policy Studies.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Discuss any additional necessities and particular care requirements with the shelter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Blamed partly on one of the worst episodes of the drought-inducing El Nino weather phenomenon in decades, the disaster threatens millions of people's access to necessities such as clean water and air -- even education.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

“It appears there were choices between necessities within the quarter because of where gas prices are,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Under the long black cape the pockets of her jeans bulged with necessities for the night's dangerous vigil.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

Related Words

• essential
• fundamental
• obligation
• precondition
• prerequisite
• requirement
• urgency