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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 9
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"New Michigan Graduation Requirements Shortchange Many Students"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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 findings represent a theoretical challenge to standard cosmology rather than observational proof that dark energy is unnecessary.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
The government relied on a document known as a criminal information, which is typically filed when a grand jury appears to be unnecessary, such as when a guilty plea is anticipated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
“Hoppers” “ ‘Toy Story 5’ was perfectly fine and completely unnecessary, unless you’re a Disney shareholder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
If a solid stock drops simply because the broader sector is swinging lower, panic selling can result in unnecessary losses.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
It would have been an unnecessary burden for them to bear.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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
We also had enough unnecessaries to bring us to grief in a couple of weeks.
From Tracks of a Rolling Stone by Henry J. (Henry John) Coke
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
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
