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

For example, at a construction site, fewer laborers would necessitate fewer electricians to be working on site, as well as fewer managers to oversee the work. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 23 May 2026

One thing working against the Stonewall Bridge model, Miller-Green said, is that people aren’t likely to invest in a caregiving solution before life necessitates it. —Jessica Blough, CNN Money, 22 May 2026

The pitching staff has been jostled, with a rough outing by lefty reliever Aaron Bummer on Monday necessitating his release on Tuesday. —Ken Sugiura, AJC.com, 20 May 2026

That necessitated a loosening of the purse-strings, and achieving regular Champions League football made that a possibility. —James McNicholas, New York Times, 19 May 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