necessarily

[ nes-uh-sair-uh-lee, -ser- ]

adverb

1. by or of necessity; as a matter of compulsion or requirement:

   You don't necessarily have to attend.

2. as a necessary, logical, or inevitable result:

   That conclusion doesn't necessarily follow.

necessarily

/ ˌnɛsɪˈsɛrɪlɪ; ˈnɛsɪsərɪlɪ /

adverb

1. as an inevitable or natural consequence

   girls do not necessarily like dolls

2. as a certainty

   he won't necessarily come

Word History and Origins

Origin of necessarily¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; necessary, -ly

Example Sentences

Alison Ashworth, a senior solicitor advocate in motoring law, explained the number of penalty points were "not necessarily a pertinent consideration" when it comes to these arguments.

From BBC

Many of them aren't necessarily lonely: They meet interested men out and about, and have plenty of friends to keep them company.

From Salon

Democrats may instead be looking for someone who simply has the Sauce—a sort of inverse Trump who can win and hold voters’ attention in a Fragmented Media Landscape™️, whose perceived authenticity and realness will more than compensate for a “polarizing” personality and past or present espousal of positions that don’t necessarily match up with those of the median voter.

From Slate

It demonstrates that love, though perhaps the world’s most beautiful emotion, is not necessarily the most important one, at least not when oppressive politics become involved.

From Salon

"And I feel like at least now there is going to be an opportunity that some young kids are going to be able to say, like, I can do that. Not necessarily run for Senate, but I can just go to college. I can go get a career. I can leave poverty," Gallego said.

From Salon

Related Words

• automatically
• naturally
• no doubt
• undoubtedly
• unquestionably