Synonyms for necessity
nəˈsɛs ɪ tine·ces·si·ty

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 4 votes

1. necessitynoun

   Antonyms:
   contingency, possibility

2. necessitynoun

   I bought a new table out of necessity. My old one was ruined.

   Antonyms:
   contingency, luxury, possibility

3. necessitynoun

   Antonyms:
   possibility, contingency, luxury

4. necessitynoun

   Antonyms:
   contingency, possibility, luxury

5. necessitynoun

   Antonyms:
   luxury, contingency, possibility

6. necessitynoun

   Antonyms:
   contingency, possibility, luxury

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. necessity

   Necessity is the quality of being necessary, or the quality of that which can not but be, become, or be true, or be accepted as true. Need and want always imply a lack; necessity may be used in this sense, but in the higher philosophical sense necessity simply denotes the exclusion of any alternative either in thought or fact; righteousness is a necessity (not a need) of the divine nature. Need suggests the possibility of supplying the deficiency which want expresses; to speak of a person's want of decision merely points out a weakness in his character; to say that he has need of decision implies that he can exercise or attain it. As applied to a deficiency, necessity is more imperative than need; a weary person is in need of rest; when rest becomes a necessity he has no choice but to stop work. An essential is something, as a quality, or element, that belongs to the essence of something else so as to be inseparable from it in its normal condition, or in any complete idea or statement of it. Compare NECESSARY; PREDESTINATION.

   Synonyms:
   compulsion, destiny, emergency, essential, exigency, extremity, fatality, fate, indispensability, indispensableness, need, requirement, requisite, sine qua non, unavoidableness, urgency, want

   Antonyms:
   choice, contingency, doubt, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiousness, fortuity, freedom, option, possibility, uncertainty

   Preposition:
   The necessity of surrender; a necessity for action; this is a necessity to me.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 1 vote

1. necessity

   Synonyms:
   indispensableness, inevitableness, need, indigence, requirement, want, fate, destiny

   Antonyms:
   dispensableness, uncertainty, superfluity, uselessness, competence, affluence, casualty, contingency, freedom, choice

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. necessitynoun

   the condition of being essential or indispensable

   Synonyms:
   essential, requirement, requisite, necessary

2. necessity, essential, requirement, requisite, necessarynoun

   anything indispensable

   "food and shelter are necessities of life"; "the essentials of the good life"; "allow farmers to buy their requirements under favorable conditions"; "a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained"

   Synonyms:
   essential, demand, requirement, requisite, necessary, prerequisite

Matched Categories

1. • Need

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. necessitynoun

   Synonyms:
   compulsion, fatality, fate, destiny, irresistible force

2. necessitynoun

   Synonyms:
   indispensableness, indispensability, inevitableness

3. necessitynoun

   Synonyms:
   need, needfulness, urgency, exigency, pressing want

4. necessitynoun

   Synonyms:
   requirement, requisite, essential, necessary, indispensable thing, SINE QUA NON

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. necessitynoun

   Synonyms:
   requisite, necessary, requirement, essential, exigency, urgency, indispensability

   Antonyms:
   choice, option, contingency, doubtfulness, possibility

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "necessity":

   need, necessary, imperative, requirement

Concise Medical Dictionary, by Joseph C Segen, MDRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. necessity

   Synonyms:
   See Medical necessity
   

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How to use necessity in a sentence?

1. Saint Augustine:

   Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men.

2. Machiavelli:

   Men are so simple, and yield so much to necessity, that he who will deceive may always find him that will lend himself to be deceived.

3. United States:

   Every time a senior leader within al-Qaeda or its affiliate in Yemen has been killed, they have been quick to put out a statement. It's seen as a religious necessity from a Shariah point of view.

4. Scott Lout:

   If we’re doing the same work 20 years on, it’s no longer acceptable for anyone, even if the necessity requires it.

5. Bill Terry:

   We haven't addressed the issue of murder in our cities in any sort of substantial, long-term way, if it's getting worse, there's even more of a necessity to tell the story of urban violence.