necessitate

1 of 2

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

necessitation

2 of 2

noun

ne·​ces·​si·​ta·​tion

plural -s

: the act of necessitating or condition of being necessitated

the absence of necessitation by the past

—A. C. Ewing

is good by free choice, not necessitation

—Nicholas Rescher

Synonyms of necessitate

Verb

• require
• need

Examples of necessitate in a Sentence

Verb

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

Verb

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

Verb

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