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

Nonesuch ends not with a cliff-hanger, exactly, but with a transformation that necessitates a follow-up. —Literary Hub, 12 Mar. 2026

The court further determined that the tower had developed severe financial problems, necessitating detailed audits to unravel the extent of the misconduct. —Awilda Esteras, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2026

The last four Wednesday games were necessitated by calendar quirks and unusual extenuating circumstances. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 11 Mar. 2026

The thinner, more economical tiles, however, would tip over, necessitating the use of racks, and pushers, bars that allowed rows of tiles to be pushed neatly forward and put into play, were added. —Kase Wickman, Vanity Fair, 10 Mar. 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