Necessary
Necessary adjective - Forcing one's compliance or participation by or as if by law.
Usage example: an emissions test is necessary before you can renew the registration for your car
Obligatory is a synonym for necessary in essential topic. In some cases you can use "Obligatory" instead an adjective "Necessary", when it comes to topics like obligation, binding, needed, mandatory. popular alternative
Nearby Words: necessity, necessarily
Obligatory
Obligatory adjective - Forcing one's compliance or participation by or as if by law.
Usage example: in this state, school attendance is obligatory until the age of 16
Necessary is a synonym for obligatory in essential topic. You can use "Necessary" instead the word "Obligatory" as an adjective or a noun, if it concerns topics such as obligation, binding, mandatory, required. popular alternative
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- binding and necessary
- binding and obligatory
- needed and necessary
- needed and obligatory
- mandatory and necessary
- mandatory and obligatory
- essential and necessary
- essential and obligatory
- required and necessary
- required and obligatory
- imperative and necessary
- imperative and obligatory
- indispensable and necessary
- indispensable and obligatory
Both words in one sentence
-
That doesn't stop him from using one when necessary (with the obligatory Improbable Aiming Skills).
Source: Doesn't Like Guns -
Skinship Grope: Lampshaded at the end of the obligatory hot springs episode, when Kamome declares that they've finally gone through all the necessary cliches.
Source: Anime / Cyber Team in Akihabara - Obligatory Star Trek Example: In Star Trek: Enterprise, there's an episode with a species who have 3 genders, where the third gender doesn't pass on any genetic material but their involvement is still necessary for the male and female to successfully reproduce.
Source: Gender Rarity Value
Cite this Source
Obligatory and Necessary. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/necessary/obligatory
Necessary & Obligatory. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/necessary/obligatory>.
Obligatory or Necessary. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/necessary/obligatory.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "necessary" and "obligatory" have occurred on timeline