necessary

²nec·es·sary

noun \ˈne-sə-ˌser-ē\

plural nec·es·sar·ies

Definition of NECESSARY

: an indispensable item : essential

Examples of NECESSARY

1. <a modest income that provided the family with only the necessaries of life>
2. “I thoroughly understand you,” cried Mrs. Norris, “… My dear Sir Thomas, with all my faults I have a warm heart; and, poor as I am, would rather deny myself the necessaries of life than do an ungenerous thing.” —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814
3. I took up the two officers in my hands, put them first into my coat-pockets, and then into every other pocket about me, except my two fobs, and another secret pocket I had no mind should be searched, wherein I had some little necessaries that were of no consequence to any but myself. —Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, 1726

Origin of NECESSARY

(see ¹necessary)

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to NECESSARY

Synonyms: condition, demand, must, must-have, essential, necessity, need, needful, requirement, requisite, sine qua non

Antonyms: nonessential, nonnecessity

Related Words: precondition, prerequisite; advantage, edge, plus; desideration, desideratum, wish

Near Antonyms: amenity, comfort, extra, extravagance, frill, indulgence, luxury, superfluity, surplus, surplusage

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