necessary

Questions about necessary

What is another word for necessary?

Across its 3 senses, necessary has 4 distinct synonyms: necessity, essential, requirement, requisite. Each belongs to a specific meaning, listed on this page under the sense it serves.

What is the opposite of necessary?

The recorded antonym is unnecessary. Opposites are sense-specific too: this page shows which meaning each one is the opposite of, because a word rarely has a single opposite that holds for all of its senses.

Why are the synonyms for necessary split into groups?

Because necessary carries 3 recorded senses and each has its own set of substitutes. A single flat list would put words from unrelated meanings side by side with nothing to tell them apart, which is exactly how a writer picks the wrong one. The grouping comes from WordNet's synsets, not from an editorial judgement of ours.

Does this page cover every sense of necessary?

It covers the 2 senses that carry a synonym, antonym, broader or narrower term. The remaining 1 sense has none recorded, so it is left off a thesaurus page and shown in full on the word page instead.

Where do the synonyms for necessary come from?

From Princeton University's WordNet, a lexical database maintained by lexicographers since 1985. A synonym here means a word form that shares a synset with this word — a set of forms interchangeable in one recorded context. Nothing on this page is generated by a language model.

Other views of necessary

• Full entry for necessaryAll 3 senses, with examples, usage labels, syllables and pronunciation.
• Rhymes for necessaryWords matching from the last stressed vowel onward, grouped by syllable count.
• Thesaurus homeHow WordNet synsets work, and the collections built for synonym work.