as in must
something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable
an extensive grounding in mathematics is a sine qua non for a career in architecture
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Recent Examples of sine qua non
At that point, sunglasses lose their sine qua non purpose to protect our eyes, becoming a purely ornamental element capable of elevating an entire outfit.
—
Teresa Romero Martínez, Glamour, 22 Mar. 2025
The sine qua non for an economic deal is that Ukrainian leadership wants a peace deal.
—CBS News, 2 Mar. 2025
For those in Mnangagwa’s Lacoste faction, direct experience in the liberation war is a sine qua non for any successor candidate.
—Philip Martin, Foreign Affairs, 17 Nov. 2017
Both machines must be designed for ridiculously demanding environments—the sine qua non is ultrafast and ultra-accurate logging and triage of billions of events per second in a typhoon of radiation under magnetic fields otherwise found only in MRI machines.
—Douglas McCormick, IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2012
See All Example Sentences for sine qua non
Teresa Romero Martínez, Glamour, 22 Mar. 2025
The sine qua non for an economic deal is that Ukrainian leadership wants a peace deal.
—CBS News, 2 Mar. 2025
For those in Mnangagwa’s Lacoste faction, direct experience in the liberation war is a sine qua non for any successor candidate.
—Philip Martin, Foreign Affairs, 17 Nov. 2017
Both machines must be designed for ridiculously demanding environments—the sine qua non is ultrafast and ultra-accurate logging and triage of billions of events per second in a typhoon of radiation under magnetic fields otherwise found only in MRI machines.
—Douglas McCormick, IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2012
See All Example Sentences for sine qua non
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sine qua non
Noun
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Tomato pie, buzzing with Pecorino and oregano, is also a must-order.—
Chris Morocco,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
4 Feb. 2026
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Rebuilding the defensive line was a must, and landing Osunsanmi, his K-State teammate, Chiddi Obiazor, and Notre Dame defensive lineman Joshua Burnham went a long way in accomplishing that.—
Sam Khan Jr,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Among the demands are a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use of force standards and a stop to racial profiling.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Feb. 2026
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The amendment also cements that outside vendors contracted for requests for proposals should follow county procurement and ethics requirements.—
Claudia Levens,
jsonline.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Technical validation For a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) like Barbados, energy independence is a necessity.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
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The left will have to decide which of these concessions are betrayals and which are necessities.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sine qua non.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sine%20qua%20non. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
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