Dictionary

Explore meaning, context, and usage with an online dictionary experience optimized for multilingual workflows.

Clear

Try these words

Meaning of necessary

Source language: EnglishDictionary language: English

necessary

Pronunciation:/ˈnɛsəsɹɪ//ˈnɛsəˌsɛɹi/

noun

Definitions

  1. (usually with the definite article) A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.

adjective

Definitions

  1. Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid some penalty.

    Example: Although I wished to think that all was false, it was yet necessary that I, who thus thought, must in some sense exist.

    Antonyms:unnecessary
  2. Unavoidable, inevitable.

    Example: If it is absolutely necessary to use public computers, you should plan ahead and forward your e-mail to a temporary, disposable account.

    Synonyms:inevitablenatural
    Antonyms:evitableimpossibleincidental
  3. Determined, involuntary: acting from compulsion rather than free will.