necessity

Syllables: ne·ces·si·ty/nɪˈsɛsəti/

necessity noun: the quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.

Noun

necessity (countable and uncountable, plural necessities)

The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.
- I bought a new table out of necessity. My old one was ruined.
- The report I wrote was of necessity rushed and full of errors.
Synonyms:

necessariness, inevitability, needfulness, certainty
The condition of being needy; desperate need; lack.
- For it is in vain for a man to think to seek God in his necessity and exigence, if he seek not God in his ordinances, and do not joy in them.1863, Richard Sibbes, “The Successful Seeker”, in The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, D.D., Volume VI, James Nichol, page 125
Something necessary; a requisite; something indispensable.
- A tent is a necessity if you plan on camping.
- Look for the bare necessities / The simple bare necessities / Forget about your worries and your strife1967, Terry Gilkyson, “The Bare Necessities”, in The Jungle Book
Synonyms:

requisite
Something which makes an act or an event unavoidable; an irresistible force; overruling power.
- After eating a full meal, the human body's necessity for food will compel the person to eat again in the future.
- I stopped, and said with inly muttered voice,
  'It doth not love the shower, nor seek the cold:
  This neither is its courage nor its choice,
  But its necessity in being old.1804, The Small Celandine, Wordsworth
The negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism.
Greater utilitarian good; used in justification of a criminal act.
- doctrine of necessity
(in plural) Indispensable requirements (of life).

necessity meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

necessity in Hindi

quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite: अनिवार्यता anivāryatā, ज़रूरत zarūrat, आवश्यकता āvaśyaktā

necessity in Marathi

necessity, need, requirement, inevitability: आवश्यकता āvaśyaktā
necessity, exigency: गरज garaj̈

necessity in Urdu

quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite: ضَرُورَت zarūrat, اِحْتِیاج ihtiyāj
that which is necessary: ضَرُورَت zarūrat

More languagesFewer languages

necessity in Bengali: জরুরৎ jorurot
necessity in Telugu: అవసరం avasaraṁ
necessity in Malayalam: ആവശ്യം āvaśyaṁ
necessity in Kannada: ಆವಶ್ಯಕ್ತೇ āvaśyaktē, ಅವಸರ avasara, ಕಾರಣ kāraṇa
necessity in Punjabi: ਮਜਬੂਰੀ majbūrī
necessity in Gujarati: જરૂરીયાત
necessity in Odia: ଦରକାର୍ darakār, ହେତୁ hetu, କାରଣ kāraṇa
necessity in Sanskrit: आवश्यकता āvaśyakatā
necessity in Assamese: প্ৰয়োজন proyüzon
necessity in Nepali: आवश्यकता āwasyakatā
necessity in Pashto: ضرورت zarurát, حاجت hāǰát, نياز nyāz, احتياج ehteyãǰ
necessity in Tagalog: pangangailangan
necessity in Arabic: ضَرُورَة ḍarūra, حَاجَة ḥāja
necessity in Malay: keperluan, hajat
necessity in Indonesian: keperluan, kebutuhan
necessity in Thai: ความต้องการ kwaam-dtɔ̂ng-gaan
necessity in Vietnamese: sự cần thiết, nhu cầu
necessity in Myanmar: လိုအပ်ခြင်း luiaphkrang:

Examples of necessity in a sentence

Educating the public about some of the myths that underlie their fears that non-traditional families will of necessity be detrimental to the well-being of foster children.1985 December 7, Kim Westheimer, quoting Carol Brill, “Toy Dolls, Fake Dukakis 'Hear' Foster Testimony”, in Gay Community News, volume 13...
A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

All 40 example sentences with necessity

Synonyms of necessity

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of necessity

Forms of necessity

plural	necessities

Plural of necessity: necessities

Origin of necessity

From Middle English necessite, from Old French necessite, from Latin necessitās (“unavoidableness, compulsion, exigency, necessity”), from necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”); see necessary. Doublet of Necessitas.

Words formed from necessity

Phrases with necessity

Questions about necessity

What does necessity mean?: Necessity means the quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.
What is necessity in Hindi?: Necessity in Hindi is अनिवार्यता (anivāryatā), ज़रूरत (zarūrat), आवश्यकता (āvaśyaktā). See Necessity meaning in Hindi.
How do you use necessity in a sentence?: Educating the public about some of the myths that underlie their fears that non-traditional families will of necessity be detrimental to the well-being of foster children.
What part of speech is necessity?: Necessity is a noun.
How do you pronounce necessity?: Necessity is pronounced /nɪˈsɛsəti/.
What is the plural of necessity?: The plural of necessity is necessities.

Words near necessity in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-necessity.ogg.

Cite this entry: “necessity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/necessity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.