nonnecessity

noun

non·​ne·​ces·​si·​ty ˌnän-ni-ˈse-sə-tē 

-ˈse-stē

plural nonnecessities

1

: the condition of not being necessary

… the issues being raised go well beyond legalities underlying the necessity or nonnecessity for an environmental impact statement.

—Chemical and Engineering News

2

: something that is not a necessity : something inessential or unnecessary

… I had no intimation that … the government would permit shipment of such nonnecessities.

—Neil G. Carey

Examples of nonnecessity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The nonnecessity of it all. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2021

Campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said neither of the infected individuals was in close contact, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with Biden or Harris within the past 48 hours, rendering self-quarantining a nonnecessity. —Haley Victory Smith, Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined at sense 1