necessary
Cannot do without
Necessary describes what must be or cannot be avoided.
A necessary condition is one that must be met: Food is necessary for survival.
Necessary steps are ones you can't skip.
The word often implies obligation or logical requirement rather than mere usefulness: a necessary evil, the necessary paperwork.
In philosophy, necessary truths are those that couldn't be otherwise.
Utterly required, irreplaceable
- crucialOf supreme importance
- vitalEssential or sustaining existence
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- integralAntiderivative or crucial component
core · key · paramount · pivotal · central · fundamental · basic · primary
Preserving human existence
- vitalEssential or sustaining existence
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- sustainingMaintaining over time
- essentialFundamentally necessary
urgent · acute · dire · pressing · subsistence · bare minimum · baseline · staple
Required by rule
- compulsoryRequired, not optional
- requiredNeeded by rule
- bindingLegally or morally required
- enforcedMade to be followed
statutory · obligatory · nonnegotiable · imposed · prescribed · dictated · demanded · decreed
Necessary prior requirement
- requirementMandatory condition to fulfill
- conditionState or stipulation
- qualificationRequired skill or condition
- stipulationCondition in an agreement
criterion · sine qua non · groundwork · foundation · basis · antecedent · precursor · preparatory
Certain to occur
- inescapableImpossible to avoid
- certainFree from doubt
- unavoidableImpossible to prevent
- ineluctableImpossible to evade
determined · predestined · axiomatic · entailed · consequent · deductive · a priori · conclusive
indispensable
Utterly required, irreplaceable
- crucialOf supreme importance
- vitalEssential or sustaining existence
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
integral · core · key · paramount · pivotal · central · fundamental · basic · primary · imperative
lifesaving
Preserving human existence
- vitalEssential or sustaining existence
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- sustainingMaintaining over time
essential · urgent · acute · dire · pressing · subsistence · bare minimum · baseline · staple · bread-and-butter
mandatory
Required by rule
- compulsoryRequired, not optional
- requiredNeeded by rule
- bindingLegally or morally required
enforced · statutory · obligatory · nonnegotiable · imposed · prescribed · dictated · demanded · decreed · involuntary
precondition
Necessary prior requirement
- requirementMandatory condition to fulfill
- conditionState or stipulation
- qualificationRequired skill or condition
stipulation · criterion · sine qua non · groundwork · foundation · basis · antecedent · precursor · preparatory · preliminary
inevitable
Certain to occur
- inescapableImpossible to avoid
- certainFree from doubt
- unavoidableImpossible to prevent
ineluctable · determined · predestined · axiomatic · entailed · consequent · deductive · a priori · conclusive · implicit
- obligationmandatory, obligatory, required, compulsory, optional
- tricky spellingsaccommodate, acknowledge, acquaintance, acquire, bureau
- Absolutesabsolute, absolutely, all, always, complete
- mandatory thingsmandatory, required, obligatory, compulsory, essential
- philosophical termsSocratic, Kantian, Cartesian, Aristotelian, dialectical
- Euphemismspass away, passed away, passed on, expecting, with child
necessaryunnecessary
Not essential or required
optional · unneeded · needless · uncalled-for · gratuitous
necessarydispensable
Able to be sacrificed
nonessential · superfluous · inessential · unessential · expendable
necessarycontingent
Conditional or representative group
possible · accidental · conditional · circumstantial · dependent
- necessary evilHarmful thing reluctantly permitted
- not necessaryAble to be omitted
- by any means necessary
- necessary conditionsWhat must exist first
- necessary and properConstitutionally permitted congressional powers
- necessary partiesLitigants required for adjudication
unnecessary, necessarily, unnecessarily, necessaries, necessary evil, necessary condition