NECESSARY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does necessary mean? 

• NECESSARY (noun)
  The noun NECESSARY has 1 sense:

1. anything indispensable

  Familiarity information: NECESSARY used as a noun is very rare.

• NECESSARY (adjective)
  The adjective NECESSARY has 2 senses:

1. absolutely essential

2. unavoidably determined by prior circumstances

  Familiarity information: NECESSARY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NECESSARY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Anything indispensable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

essential; necessary; necessity; requirement; requisite

Context example:

a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained

Hypernyms ("necessary" is a kind of...):

thing (a separate and self-contained entity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "necessary"):

desideratum (something desired as a necessity)

must (a necessary or essential thing)

need; want (anything that is necessary but lacking)

• NECESSARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Absolutely essential

Similar:

essential; indispensable (absolutely necessary; vitally necessary)

incumbent (necessary (for someone) as a duty or responsibility; morally binding)

needed; needful; required; requisite (necessary for relief or supply)

obligatory (required by obligation or compulsion or convention)

Also:

obligatory (morally or legally constraining or binding)

essential (basic and fundamental)

indispensable (not to be dispensed with; essential)

Attribute:

necessity (the condition of being essential or indispensable)

Antonym:

unnecessary (not necessary)

Derivation:

necessity (anything indispensable)

necessity (the condition of being essential or indispensable)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Unavoidably determined by prior circumstances

Context example:

the necessary consequences of one's actions

Similar:

inevitable (incapable of being avoided or prevented)

 Context examples 

You must acquire the bow for a man, with its necessary touch of dignity, and that for a lady, which cannot be too humble, and should still contain the least suspicion of abandon.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Not at all," said he: "I care for myself when necessary. I am well now. What do you see amiss in me?"

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It was absolutely necessary to expose it.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Never mind, don't answer; it's not necessary," she laughed.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was not aware that it was necessary to ask your permission before smiling at a harmless pleasantry.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But, my dear, it was not necessary, and I'm afraid you will regret it one of these days, said Mrs. March.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Then it was that no cuff nor sharp word was necessary before they could pat him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I was still held to be necessary to my poor mother's training, and, as one of her trials, could not be suffered to absent myself.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It would be worth seeking the right doctor and making the necessary appointments.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The findings suggest that a healthy microbiome is necessary for appropriate regulation of miRNAs in these brain regions.

(New Light on Link between Gut Bacteria, Anxiety, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)