necessary
ne·ces·sar·y/ˈnɛs.əˌsɛ.ɹi/adjective
necessary is spelled N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y, 4 syllables: ne·ces·sar·y. The wrong spelling people search most is neccessary: about 620 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 15 of all searches for the word. Necessary is an adjective meaning “Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid…”.
How many letters and syllables are in necessary?
| Letters | 9: N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: ne·ces·sar·y |
| In writing | 81 times per million words; the 1,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 6; the most searched, neccessary, about 620 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell necessary?
Necessary is spelled N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y. 6 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for necessary in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is necessary?
Necessary appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce necessary?
- UK /ˈnɛs.ə.sɹi/
- UK /ˈnɛs.əˌsɛ.ɹi/
- US /ˈnɛs.əˌsɛ.ɹi/
Necessary has 4 syllables, split ne·ces·sar·y in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-necessary.wav, En-us-necessary.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with necessary?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as necessary from its last stressed vowel (/ɛsəsɛɹi/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of necessary
- necessarier comparative
- more necessary comparative
- necessariest superlative
- most necessary superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does necessary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid some penalty.
Although I wished to think that all was false, it was yet necessary that I, who thus thought, must in some sense exist.
- 2
Unavoidable, inevitable.
If it is absolutely necessary to use public computers, you should plan ahead and forward your e-mail to a temporary, disposable account.
- 3
obsoleteDetermined, involuntary: acting from compulsion rather than free will.
noun
- 1
archaicA place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.
- 2
obsoleteNecessity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate necessary?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of necessary: nec..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Necessary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nécessaire |
| German | nötig, notwendig, erforderlich , zwangsläufig, geboten |
| Portuguese | necessário |
| Spanish | necesario, menester, preciso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does necessary come from?
From Middle English necessarye, from Old French necessaire, from Latin necessārius (“unavoidable, inevitable, required”), variant of necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”), probably from ne or non cessum, from the perfect passive participle of cēdō (“yield; avoid, withdraw”); see cede. Older use as a noun in reference to an outhouse or lavatory under the influence of English and Latin necessārium, a medieval term for the place for monks’ “unavoidable” business, usually located behind or attached to monastic dormitories.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).