necessity
Pluralnecessities (some meanings)
- 1The fact that something must happen or cannot be avoided.
Like needing air to breathe: there is no choice about it.
There is no necessity to rush, because we still have plenty of time.
Sleep is a biological necessity, not a luxury.
Similarneed, requirement
Note
- 2A thing that someone must have and cannot do without.
Like a key you must have to open your front door: you cannot manage without it.
Clean water is a necessity for every household.
A warm coat is a necessity during the coldest months.
Similaressential, requirement, must, requisite
Oppositeluxury
Note
- 3The basic things a person needs to live, like food and shelter.
Like the food and water a plant must have to stay alive.
Parents must give a child every necessity, including food and a safe home.
The law says basic necessities must be provided to people in care.
Similaressential, requirement
Oppositeluxury
Note
- 4The state of being very poor and lacking what you need.
Like being so hungry that you will eat anything you can find.
They left their home out of necessity, not by choice.
In times of necessity, neighbors shared what little food they had.
Similarneed, poverty, want, hardship, destitution
Note
- 5A force or power that makes something happen and cannot be resisted.
Like a strong river current that carries a boat wherever it goes.
The flood left them no choice, and necessity forced them to flee.
When the bridge collapsed, necessity decided their route for them.
Similarcompulsion, obligation, constraint
Oppositechoice
Note
- 6The need to break a law in order to stop something worse from happening.
Like breaking a window to pull someone out of a burning car.
The hikers argued that breaking into the cabin was a necessity to survive the blizzard.
Courts rarely accept necessity as an excuse for ordinary theft.
Note
- 7The idea that everything is caused by what came before, so nothing is truly free.
Like a row of dominoes falling: each one pushes the next, and none can stop.
Some thinkers believe in necessity, saying our choices are fixed by causes we cannot control.
If necessity is true, then free will is only an illusion.
Similardeterminism
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of necessity apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from Latin "necessitās," meaning necessity, which came from "necesse," meaning unavoidable. English took it through Old French "necessite."