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

Although Del Monte voided its peach contracts last summer, growers held hope that a buyer would take over the business, necessitating the thousands of tons of peaches under contract and soon to grow throughout the Central Valley. —Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 26 Feb. 2026

But the assignment didn’t necessitate a change of aesthetic. —Nicole Phelps, Vogue, 25 Feb. 2026

Uncertainty necessitates cross-checking. —Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 25 Feb. 2026

The traditional, classical systems that have long proven successful are not necessarily capable of meeting modern needs anymore, which necessitates the use of new technological tools. —William Jones, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 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