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

Davis loved to read and collect books, devouring anything from John Updike and Margaret Atwood, among other authors, a passion that necessitated having bookshelves in every room of his home. — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

There are also certain risk periods, like pregnancy, where women are more prone to anemia, and childbirth, where emergencies may necessitate a blood transfusion, Lawrence said. — Norah O'Donnell, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026

As will become clear, this has often necessitated giving a good deal of attention to Venice’s economic situation, the state of its public finances and—most of all—the workings of credit markets. — Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2026

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

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