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

• bear
• challenge
• claim
• demand
• need
• require
• take
• want
• warrant

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 sweeping language necessitates the collection of many millions of documents for a large company. —Ross Marchand, Baltimore Sun, 23 June 2025

The Fordow site, formally known in the international community as the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and in Iran as the Shahid Ali Mohammadi Nuclear Facility, is located under more than 300 feet of rock, necessitating the use of heavy weaponry to strike it. —Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 19 June 2025

The fallout from mass deportations would extend beyond the state, leading to higher food prices nationwide and necessitating industry-wide adjustments. —Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 June 2025

The reduction necessitates ¼ acre of forest preserve land rather than 52 acres. —Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 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