necessitate

verb

ne·​ces·​si·​tate ni-ˈse-sə-ˌtāt 

necessitated; necessitating

transitive verb

1

: to make necessary : require

Business was growing, which necessitated the hiring of additional employees.

2

: force, compel

was necessitated to choose some other route

necessitation

ni-ˌse-sə-ˈtā-shən 

noun

Synonyms of necessitate

• require
• need

Examples of necessitate in a Sentence

New safety regulations necessitated adding a railing to the stairs.

getting new shoes would necessitate another trip to the mall

Recent Examples on the Web

Cracking in the concrete cap necessitated replacement, resulting in an initial delay of the park. —Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Dec. 2025

These conventional units are characterized by their weight and maintenance requirements, often necessitating replacement three to four times during a vehicle’s service life due to self-discharge and general degradation. —Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 11 Dec. 2025

The state hopes to attract more industry to the park, which would necessitate even more water in Lebanon, whose current daily water supply maxes out near 5 million gallons. —Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 10 Dec. 2025

These items often need daily recharging, necessitating regular plugging and unplugging. —Timothy Dale, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for necessitate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

necessitate

verb

ne·​ces·​si·​tate ni-ˈses-ə-ˌtāt 

necessitated; necessitating

: to make necessary

sick enough to necessitate staying home

necessitation

-ˌses-ə-ˈtā-shən 

noun