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
Nearby Words: necessity, necessarily
Unnecessary
Unnecessary adjective - Not needed by the circumstances or to accomplish an end.
Usage example: that large suitcase is unnecessary—we are only going to be away for a couple of days
Nearby Word: unnecessarily
Both words in one sentence
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They tend to hold a grudge against the adaptation for every change it makes from the original (whether necessary or unnecessary).
Source: Hate Dumb - In Real Life, when a cover story is necessary, spies and the like provide a cover story that is similar to their own life to avoid unnecessary slip-ups and cover blowing.
Source: Renamed the Same - Most people worked in jobs in which literacy wasn't necessary, which took up so much time that they didn't have the leisure time needed to pick up an unnecessary skill.
Source: Never Learned to Read
Cite this Source
Unnecessary and Necessary. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/necessary/unnecessary
Necessary & Unnecessary. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/necessary/unnecessary>.
Unnecessary or Necessary. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/necessary/unnecessary.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "necessary" and "unnecessary" have occurred on timeline