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

Recording for the master proceeded one musician at a time, beginning with drummer Evan Hutchings on a Zoom hookup necessitated by a snowstorm. —Tom Roland, Billboard, 20 Nov. 2025

There are air traffic controller shortages across much of the country, necessitating the cutbacks on flights, according to Duffy. —Kevin Shalvey, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2025

The urban environment necessitated close-quarters combat as Marines moved from house to house and room to room in a city unfamiliar to them. —David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 8 Nov. 2025

But nature abhors a vacuum, and the existence of Oscars-race heroes necessitates Oscars villains. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 7 Nov. 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