Synonyms of necessary

necessary 1 of 2

adjective

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
• probable
• certain
• ineluctable
• unescapable
• on the cards
• in the cards
• decided
• in the bag
• likely
• relentless
• ineludible
• destined
• settled
• predetermined
• inexorable
• fated
• preordained
• unstoppable
• unremitting
• predestined
• foreordained

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• uncertain
• unsure
• avoidable
• doubtful
• questionable
• unclear
• preventable
• unlikely
• dubious
• shaky
• evadable
• unreliable
• preventible
• 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