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

Bomb squads examined the suspect's vehicle at the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets for potential explosive devices, necessitating a brief evacuation of neighboring structures. — Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2026

Composting, especially when required under some state laws, might also necessitate extra staff. — CBS News, 6 Nov. 2026

The heavy crash forced a red flag to repair the barrier, bringing the race to a halt and necessitating a second standing start. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 2 Nov. 2026

Already there have been accommodations from coach Erik Spoelstra, just as there were from Spoelstra during the Big Three era, in this case necessitated by a 0-4 start. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 1 Nov. 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