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

This necessitated buying an entirely new midfield, spending something like £350m on Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez and the 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

These and many other requirements led Axiom toward a suit design that was complicated, necessitated many layers of protection that drove mass upward, and had a stiffer design that reduced astronaut mobility. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 2 Sep. 2026

In his inaugural Jackson Hole speech as chairman, Warsh warned that persistent inflation may necessitate further monetary tightening. — William Pesek, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2026

Officials said the burials were a temporary measure necessitated by health concerns and limited capacity. — ABC News, 30 Aug. 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