necessity

[ nuh-ses-i-tee ]

noun

, plural ne·ces·si·ties.

1. something necessary or indispensable:

   food, shelter, and other necessities of life.

2. the fact of being necessary or indispensable; indispensability:

   the necessity of adequate housing.

3. an imperative requirement or need for something:

   the necessity for a quick decision.

   Synonyms: demand

4. the state or fact of being necessary or inevitable:

   to face the necessity of testifying in court.

5. an unavoidable need or compulsion to do something:

   not by choice but by necessity.

6. a state of being in financial need; poverty:

   a family in dire necessity.

   Synonyms: want, indigence, neediness

7. Philosophy. the quality of following inevitably from logical, physical, or moral laws.

necessity

/ nɪˈsɛsɪtɪ /

noun

1. sometimes plural something needed for a desired result; prerequisite

   necessities of life

2. a condition or set of circumstances, such as physical laws or social rules, that inevitably requires a certain result

   it is a matter of necessity to wear formal clothes when meeting the Queen

3. the state or quality of being obligatory or unavoidable
4. urgent requirement, as in an emergency or misfortune

   in time of necessity we must all work together

5. poverty or want
6. rare.
   compulsion through laws of nature; fate
7. philosophy
   1. a condition, principle, or conclusion that cannot be otherwise
   2. the constraining force of physical determinants on all aspects of life Compare freedom
8. logic
   1. the property of being necessary
   2. a statement asserting that some property is essential or statement is necessarily true
   3. the operator that indicates that the expression it modifies is true in all possible worlds Usual symbol
9. of necessity
   inevitably; necessarily

Other Words From

• nonne·cessi·ty noun plural nonnecessities
• super·ne·cessi·ty noun plural supernecessities

Word History and Origins

Origin of necessity¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English necessite, from Latin necessitās, from necess(e) “needful” + -itās -ity

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. of necessity, as an inevitable result; unavoidably; necessarily:

   Our trip to China must of necessity be postponed for a while.

More idioms and phrases containing necessity

In addition to the idiom beginning with necessity , also see make a virtue of necessity ; of necessity .

Synonym Study

See need.

Example Sentences

Doing so is a pragmatic as well as a moral necessity lest the voters’ patience and generosity run out.

From Los Angeles Times

Put another way, Taylor explained to me, today’s acceptance of climate change on the far right — and, inevitably, he said, among conservatives writ large — is ushering in a more clear-eyed view of what lies ahead for America, one that accepts the possibility, even the necessity, of sacrifice.

From Salon

Sidoti offered an example, referring to the standards of reasonableness, necessity and proportionality mentioned above: “When Israeli authorities say they have found three armed terrorists in a hospital, that is not sufficient to justify the total destruction of a hospital, killing hundreds of people.”

From Salon

It is essential to recognize that antebellum Black liberals consciously mainlined a tension between advocating for broader systemic social change and the practical necessity of remaining defiantly entrepreneurial in a hostile environment that resisted their inclusion into the upper ranks of society.

From Salon

As mentioned, Black liberals operated through a critique of the existing order from within, rather than assuming the necessity of its wholesale destruction.

From Salon

Related Words

• essential
• fundamental
• obligation
• precondition
• prerequisite
• requirement
• urgency