unnecessary
[ uhn-nes-uh-ser-ee ]
/ ʌnˈnɛs əˌsɛr i /
adjective
not necessary or essential; needless; unessential.
noun, plural un·nec·es·sar·ies.
unnecessaries, things that are not necessary or essential.
RELATED CONTENT
They Call It Puppy Love And Other Animal-inspired PhrasesWe often attribute emotions and other human characteristics to animals. This is called anthropomorphism. Similarly, we also describe people using animal characteristics. You might, for example, say my teenage son “eats like a horse,” meaning he’s a growing boy and consumes a lot of food. This is called zoomorphism. Zoomorphism also includes assigning animal-like qualities to gods and inanimate objects. The term comes from the Greek …
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- unmyelinated fiber,
- unnail,
- unnamed,
- unnatural,
- unnaturally,
- unneeded,
- unnerve,
- unnerving,
- unnilennium,
- unnilhexium
Origin of unnecessary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for unnecessarily
unnecessary
/ (ʌnˈnɛsɪsərɪ, -ɪsrɪ) /
adjective
not necessary
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
unnecessary
1540s, from un- (1) "not" + necessary. Related: Unnecessarily.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper