1 ~ (for sb/sth) (to do sth) that is needed for a purpose or a reason
SYNESSENTIAL:
It may be necessary to buy a new one. * It doesn't seem necessary for us to meet. * Only use your car when absolutely necessary. * If necessary, you can contact me at home. * I'll make the necessary arrangements. * Changes can easily be made where necessary. * She has the qualities necessary to be a successful teacher.
2 [onlybeforenoun] (written) that must exist or happen and cannot be avoided:
This is a necessary consequence of progress.
IDIOMS
a necessary evil a thing that is bad or that you do not like but which you must accept for a particular reason:
The loss of jobs is regarded as a necessary evil in the fight against inflation.
Rate this entry
About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
Where does this definition of necessary come from?
This entry for necessary is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Is necessary a noun, verb, or something else?
In this entry, necessary is tagged as adjective.
Does necessary appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — necessary appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
