unnecessary
Americanadjective
noun
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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"New Michigan Graduation Requirements Shortchange Many Students"
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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:
He also lets them know that certain alluring stocks may already be in their index funds, so buying more shares may be unnecessary.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
"Misconceptions about rattlesnakes create unnecessary fear and frequently result in people harming or killing them," the study stated.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 , externalalready makes it an offence in England and Wales to cause animals unnecessary suffering or to fail to meet their welfare needs.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Europeans have long shunned air conditioning, viewing it as noisy, a blight on their architectural heritage and, above all, unnecessary as long as the summers were mild.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
And we needed to make sure there was nothing unnecessary left in our packs.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
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
Now, how luxurious, how stuffed with shameful, wasteful unnecessaries those drawers and closets seemed!
From Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise by Phillips, David Graham
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 Mackenzie, Clutha N. (Clutha Nantes)
I say, pater, do come up while I toss a few unnecessaries into my case.—That's right, Brown; put my bag in my room.
From The Parts Men Play by Baxter, Arthur Beverley
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.
