unnecessarily

adverb

un·​nec·​es·​sar·​i·​ly ˌən-ˌne-sə-ˈser-ə-lē 

: not by necessity : to an unnecessary degree

unnecessarily harsh criticism

Examples of unnecessarily in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After a premiere that unnecessarily thins the herd with a qualifying round, the producers send in three past contestants — season 2's Josie, season 3's CJ, and season 5's Stefan — in episode 2 for no reason. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 13 Mar. 2025

Every transaction that gets declined unnecessarily is lost revenue for you, your merchants and your acquiring partners. —Eugenio Orozco, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025

If that characterization of About a Hero sounds unnecessarily opaque, consider that TiDF is paying not just heed but tribute to Artificial Intelligence at this year’s festival. —Matthew Carey, Deadline, 9 Mar. 2025

Other proposals would require the Treasury to gamble with the state’s investment portfolios, unnecessarily increasing risk in the long term. —Dave Young, The Denver Post, 8 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unnecessarily

• extraordinarily
• hereditarily
• pecuniarily
• preliminarily
• airily
• caroli
• merrily
• verily
• warily
• wearily
• arbitrarily
• customarily

Kids Definition

unnecessarily

adverb

un·​nec·​es·​sar·​i·​ly ˌən-ˌnes-ə-ˈser-ə-lē 

1

: not by necessity

spent money unnecessarily

2

: to an unnecessary degree

an unnecessarily harsh punishment