- (sometimes singular) what is needed; essential items: the necessaries of life
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
necessaries /ˈnɛsɪsərɪz/ pl n
nec•es•sar•y /ˈnɛsəˌsɛri/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- essential;
needed;
unavoidable:a small but necessary change in our plans.[It + be + ~ + that clause]:It is necessary that you stay until the end of the meeting.[It + be + ~ (+ for + object) + to + verb]It isn't necessary (for you) to stay.
- necessary is an adjective, necessity is a noun, necessitate is a verb:He carried only what was necessary for survival. He carried a few necessities with him. The invasion necessitates a quick response on our part.
nec•es•sar•y
(nes′ə ser′ē),USA pronunciation adj., n., pl. -sar•ies.
adj.
n.
nec′es•sar′i•ness, n.
adj.
- being essential, indispensable, or requisite:a necessary part of the motor.
- happening or existing by necessity:a necessary change in our plans.
- acting or proceeding from compulsion or necessity;
not free;
involuntary:a necessary agent. - Philosophy[Logic.]
- (of a proposition) such that a denial of it involves a self-contradiction.
- (of an inference or argument) such that its conclusion cannot be false if its supporting premises are true.
- (of a condition) such that it must exist if a given event is to occur or a given thing is to exist. Cf. sufficient (def. 2).
n.
- something necessary or requisite;
necessity. - Law necessaries, food, clothing, etc., required by a dependent or incompetent and varying with his or her social or economic position or that of the person upon whom he or she is dependent.
- Dialect Terms[Chiefly New Eng.]a privy or toilet.
- Latin necessārius unavoidable, inevitable, needful, equivalent. to necess(e) (neuter indeclinable adjective, adjectival) unavoidable, necessary + -ārius -ary
- Middle English necessarie 1300–50
- 1. required, needed. Necessary, essential, indispensable, requisite indicate something vital for the fulfillment of a need. Necessary applies to that without which a condition cannot be fulfilled or to an inevitable consequence of certain events, conditions, etc.:Food is necessary to life. Multiplicity is a necessary result of division.Indispensable applies to something that cannot be done without or removed from the rest of a unitary condition:Food is indispensable to living things. He made himself indispensable as a companion.That which is essential forms a vitally necessary condition of something:Air is essential to red-blooded animals. It is essential to understand the matter clearly.Requisite applies to what is thought necessary to fill out, complete, or perfect something:She had all the requisite qualifications for a position. 5. requirement, requisite, essential.
- 1. dispensable.
'necessaries' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):