necessary.

Needed for a purpose or required for something else to occur.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• necessary condition
• necessary precaution

On the page

Consent is necessary, but not sufficient, for participation.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.