Synonyms of necessary

necessary 1 of 2

adjective

ˈne-sə-ˌser-ē 

1

as in required

forcing one's compliance or participation by or as if by law

an emissions test is necessary before you can renew the registration for your car

Synonyms & Similar Words

• required
• mandatory
• compulsory
• incumbent
• needed
• urgent
• imperative
• obligatory
• essential
• requisite
• forced
• involuntary
• nonelective
• indispensable
• demanded
• peremptory
• all-important
• persistent
• insistent
• enforced
• pressing
• coercive

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• optional
• voluntary
• elective
• unnecessary
• discretionary
• unwanted
• unimportant
• chosen
• insignificant
• unneeded
• dispensable
• inconsequential
• nonessential

2

as in inevitable

impossible to avoid or evade

taxes will always be a necessary evil

Synonyms & Similar Words

• inevitable
• possible
• unavoidable
• definite
• sure
• inescapable
• ineluctable
• certain
• probable
• destined
• likely
• unescapable
• in the cards
• decided
• in the bag
• ineludible
• relentless
• settled
• fated
• predetermined
• inexorable
• preordained
• unstoppable
• unremitting
• predestined
• foreordained

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• uncertain
• unsure
• avoidable
• doubtful
• questionable
• unclear
• preventable
• unlikely
• dubious
• shaky
• evadable
• unreliable
• improbable
• undecided
• unsettled
• undependable

3

as in essential

impossible to do without

food and water are necessary for survival

Synonyms & Similar Words

• essential
• required
• needed
• needful
• integral
• vital
• imperative
• critical
• crucial
• important
• requisite
• must-have
• indispensable
• all-important
• mandatory
• compulsory
• prerequisite
• of the essence
• basic
• key
• necessitous
• major
• fundamental
• meaningful
• urgent
• obligatory
• momentous
• substantial
• significant
• organic
• central
• pressing
• insistent
• persistent
• consequential
• nonelective
• material
• weighty

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unnecessary
• needless
• nonessential
• unwanted
• undesired
• extra
• unneeded
• unimportant
• dispensable
• unessential
• insignificant
• excess
• inessential
• external
• superfluous
• extraneous
• inconsequential
• surplus

necessary

2 of 2

noun

as in must

something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable

a modest income that provided the family with only the necessaries of life

Synonyms & Similar Words

• must
• requirement
• necessity
• need
• essential
• requisite
• needful
• must-have
• demand
• condition
• prerequisite
• sine qua non
• precondition
• advantage
• plus
• wish
• desideratum
• edge
• desideration

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• extra
• surplus
• nonessential
• comfort
• luxury
• indulgence
• nonnecessity
• extravagance
• surplusage
• superfluity
• frill
• amenity

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of necessary

Adjective

Apollo 2 picked metal brackets from supply bins and placed them into sequencing containers, adjusting its movements when necessary. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 10 Nov. 2026

The best explanation for why people are no longer having babies is that child-rearing at the scale necessary to maintain populations is fundamentally at odds with the structures of modern life and modern societies. — Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2026

Noun

At George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation in Virginia there were several such necessaries on the grounds. — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 12 Apr. 2025

Among other necessaries will be Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt, to ensure that Hamas can’t resupply itself with weapons. — Bret Stephens, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2025