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

• bear
• challenge
• claim
• demand
• need
• require
• take
• want
• warrant

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

Delivering the right message, on the right platform, at the right time necessitates a deep understanding of what motivates customers to engage with a product or website and which digital experiences will ultimately foster customer loyalty. —Mithun A. Sridharan, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025

Yesterday was his second start in center field, a circumstance necessitated when Brandon Lockridge joined All-Star center fielder Jackson Merrill on the injured list with a hamstring injury. —Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2025

However, prices continued to rise, hitting their highest since the early 1980s and necessitating a series of dramatic rate hikes. —Jeff Cox, CNBC, 14 Apr. 2025

The Administration’s hyper-aggressive litigation strategy combines maximalist assertions of the scope of Presidential power with the insistence that any potential intrusion on executive authority necessitates emergency relief. —Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2025

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