unnecessary
Americanadjective
noun
-
unnecessaries
plural
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of unnecessary
Explanation
Anything that is extra or not needed is unnecessary. Wearing long underwear in July is an unnecessary precaution against being cold. If you don't need something, it's unnecessary. You take an unnecessary risk if you get in the car and don't bother to fasten your seatbelt. Driving your car when you could ride a bike instead is an unnecessary use of gasoline. If you keep dropping you pen in class, your teacher might say, "That's unnecessary." Walking your dog with two leashes is definitely unnecessary. That's obvious, but lots of times it's hard to tell what's necessary and what's unnecessary.
Vocabulary lists containing unnecessary
List 3
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List 9
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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.
See Examples For:
The 5-oxoETE pathway helps tissues withstand this chemical stress, reducing the risk that the body's own defenses will cause unnecessary injury.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026
Andrew then stepped in before "unnecessary force" was used on him.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
For Gates and for Bennett, the worry is that unnecessary restrictions on voting by mail would effectively disenfranchise people.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Be sure you know your child’s full financial situation so you can avoid making an unnecessary gift.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026
“It will be quite unnecessary for my wife to come here,” he said.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
There are some great songs on it, but they're smothered in unnecessaries that made it really cloudy.
From The Guardian ● May 23, 2013
She has the air of somebody who has reached a point in her life where she is dispensing with the unnecessaries.
From Time Magazine Archive
On Thursday, August 5th, the Regiment sorrowfully packed up all unnecessaries and piled them in the regimental dump.
From The Tale of a Trooper by Clutha N. (Clutha Nantes) Mackenzie
No mission chest piously outfitted at home ever carried to the remote heathen a more useless assortment of unnecessaries than this one brought to me.
From The Portal of Dreams by Charles Neville Buck
Boroskie, thou art a Knave; it contains nothing But rubbish from the other rooms and unnecessaries: Will't please you see a strange Clock?
From Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (3 of 10): The Loyal Subject by Francis Beaumont
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
