requisite

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adjective

req·​ui·​site ˈre-kwə-zət 

: needed for a particular purpose : essential, necessary

has the requisite skills/knowledge/experience for the job

… the bill was ultimately pulled after it became clear it would not get the requisite number of votes needed to pass the House …

—Kaitlyn Schallhorn

Classic Korean dishes, such as braised short ribs and meat dumplings, would be set out alongside the requisite [Thanksgiving] turkey and mashed potatoes.

—Martha Fay

Politics, to one degree or another, are a requisite part of committee work …

—Angela D. Thompsell

requisite noun

plural requisites

For my part, I have never seen why a Ph.D. should be a requisite for college-level teaching.

—Andrew Hacker

requisiteness noun

… the moral optimality of their conduct does not eliminate the wrongness of what they have done or the requisiteness of legal sanctions in response.

—Matthew H. Kramer

requisiteness

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noun

req·​ui·​site·​ness

plural -es

: the quality or state of being requisite : necessity

proof of the requisiteness of attending to the customs of the East

—Thomas Harmer

Did you know?

Ask Us About Requisite

Acquiring an understanding of where requisite comes from won't require a formal inquiry. Without question, the quest begins with the Latin verb quaerere, which means "to ask" or "to seek." That word is ancestor to a number of English words, including acquire, require, inquiry, question, quest, and, of course, requisite. From quaerere came requirere, meaning "to ask again." Repeated requests can express a need, and the past participle of the Latin word requirere, which is requisitus, came to mean "needed" or "necessary." English acquired requisite when it was adopted into Middle English back in the 1400s.

Synonyms of requisite

Adjective

• necessary
• required
• essential
• needed
• integral
• needful

Examples of requisite in a Sentence

Adjective

this new CD is the requisite album of the year for classical music lovers

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Though the operation took place at the workshop of the Crown Jeweller, Garrard & Company, British artisans lacked the requisite skill, prompting the Prince to hire master cutters from Amsterdam’s Royal Coster Diamonds. — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026

Gini, an agronomist who has overseen the planting of some two hundred thousand trees in Parco Nord in the past quarter century, has the tan skin, strong hands, and hearty disposition that are requisite for the job. — Eric Klinenberg, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

Clearing these hurdles requires CFOs to firmly grasp the last-mile problem, take responsibility for resolving it and create an execution plan in collaboration with all the requisite players. — Jim Deloach, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026

If the consensus in the community is to allow dogs in units, the declaration needs be amended to allow dogs, which requires the requisite unit owner approval as stated in the declaration amendment provision. — Howard Dakoff, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Latin requisitus, past participle of requirere

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for requisite

• prerequisite

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Kids Definition

requisite

adjective

req·​ui·​site ˈrek-wə-zət 

: needed for reaching a goal or achieving a purpose

requisite noun

requisiteness noun