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

Even a modest advance would necessitate a defense upgrade, and Green thinks that that could do damage of its own. — Chris Stokel-Walker, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026

Among them, Maria Villegas Corrales, a mom in Colorado, whose daughter Mia was born with serious medical complexities that necessitated open heart surgery and a pacemaker in the first years of her life. — Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2026

In an industry frequently critiqued for its insular nature and hyper-fixation on dizzying scale, a quiet movement is taking root—one built on the simple, radical premise that real innovation necessitates stepping outside the fashion bubble. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026

There have also been several cases of people defecating near the doorway or on the outdoor patio, necessitating power washing and city support. — Melody Xu, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

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