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nonnecessity

nonnecessity

1 7.4
A thing you do not need
  • noun
  • /ˌnɒn.nəˈsɛs.ɪ.ti/
: no necesidad
  • He decided to cut every nonnecessity from his budget to save money.

Examples

  • During hard times, people often give up nonnecessity purchases like designer clothes.

  • A phone is a nonnecessity.

  • Traveling light means leaving all nonnecessity items at home.

  • Many consider a second car a nonnecessity in urban areas.

  • The designer emphasized that her expensive handbag was merely a nonnecessity and not essential to her wardrobe.

  • For many families, a second car is seen as a nonnecessity during tough economic times.

  • He realized that his collection of rare stamps was a nonnecessity and decided to sell them.

Synonyms

nonessential
vsnonnecessity
1 5.6

A thing that is not needed

focuses on the general quality or state rather than a single thing
inessential
vsnonnecessity
1 5.5

A thing you do not need and can leave behind

emphasizes lack of necessity rather than low importance
unnecessity
vsnonnecessity
1 8.4

A thing or situation that is not needed

is the same in meaning but presented as a different word form
extraneousness
vsnonnecessity
1 9.9

The fact of not being related or important to the main point

focuses on not being necessary rather than being irrelevant or unrelated
inessentiality
vsnonnecessity
9.6

A state in which something is not necessary

covers both individual things and this general quality

Antonyms

227 2.0

A thing you need to live, like food or water

How Necessary

necessity
227 2.0
convenience
217 1.4
nonnecessity
1 7.4
option
∞ 2.2
luxury
369 4.2

Surface Forms

nonnecessity singular

Morphology

nonnecessity = necessity (transparent) = non + necessity

The meaning is directly formed by adding the productive negative prefix 'non-' to the noun 'necessity', so learners who know both parts can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Nonnecessity combines non- meaning 'not' with necessity, which means 'need' or something 'required'. So a nonnecessity is an extra thing that is 'not needed' — something you can leave out when you want to save money or travel light.