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

• 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

Entry necessitated this route through the south of the island—there were no direct flights. —David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this change was necessitated by an injury to Jacob Fatu. —Andrew Ravens‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025

Under the plan, AES would add 100 MW in battery storage capacity and 108 MW from gas reciprocating engines by 2040, pending any future plans that would necessitate different energy generation decisions. —Alysa Guffey, IndyStar, 23 Oct. 2025

The October 22 legislative hearing drew a large turnout of speakers, necessitating an overflow room. —Laura Schulte, jsonline.com, 22 Oct. 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