necessitate

verb

ne·​ces·​si·​tate ni-ˈse-sə-ˌtāt 

necessitated; necessitating

transitive verb

1

: to make necessary : require

Business was growing, which necessitated the hiring of additional employees.

2

: force, compel

was necessitated to choose some other route

necessitation

ni-ˌse-sə-ˈtā-shən 

noun

Synonyms of necessitate

• require
• need

Examples of necessitate in a Sentence

New safety regulations necessitated adding a railing to the stairs.

getting new shoes would necessitate another trip to the mall

Recent Examples on the Web

And in time, anti-tax ideology might threaten the country’s solvency and end up necessitating austerity budgets. —Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026

This also might necessitate more than phone calls. —R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026

The 29-year-old Song reaggravated an oblique injury in spring training, necessitating a rehab assignment with the Chihuahuas after taking part in opening day festivities at Petco Park. —Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2026

European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kazimir suggested the Iran war might necessitate an eventual interest-rate hike. —Daniel Hornak, Bloomberg, 24 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for necessitate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

necessitate

verb

ne·​ces·​si·​tate ni-ˈses-ə-ˌtāt 

necessitated; necessitating

: to make necessary

sick enough to necessitate staying home

necessitation

-ˌses-ə-ˈtā-shən 

noun