necessity

Questions about necessity

What is another word for necessity?

Across its 2 senses, necessity has 4 distinct synonyms: essential, requirement, requisite, necessary. Each belongs to a specific meaning, listed on this page under the sense it serves.

What is the opposite of necessity?

WordNet records no antonym for necessity. Antonymy in WordNet is a relation between specific word forms rather than between concepts, so it is recorded only where lexicographers judged the pairing direct. An absence here means none was recorded, not that none can be imagined.

Why are the synonyms for necessity split into groups?

Because necessity carries 2 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.

Where do the synonyms for necessity 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 necessity

• Full entry for necessityAll 2 senses, with examples, usage labels, syllables and pronunciation.
• Rhymes for necessityWords matching from the last stressed vowel onward, grouped by syllable count.
• Thesaurus homeHow WordNet synsets work, and the collections built for synonym work.