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

The core challenge is agents' ability to exploit existing weaknesses at scale, necessitating improved governance and careful permission management. — Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026

But Exxon and Chevron contend more oil sources are needed longer term as existing volumes are depleted, necessitating a new wave of investments in global, frontier oil and gas exploration. — Jordan Blum, Fortune, 31 July 2026

Court records indicate he was diagnosed with a skull fracture and a brain bleed, necessitating emergency surgery. — Abby Dodge, CBS News, 30 July 2026

If the state or local governments want to maintain the same revenue, Amendment 3 would necessitate tax increases in other areas, or more federal dollars to make up for the shortfall. — Abigail Hall, The Conversation, 30 July 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