necessary evil

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

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Noun

necessary evil (plural necessary evils)

1. (idiomatic) An unfavorable thing that must be done or accepted, especially because the available alternative courses of action or inaction would be worse.

   Another punishing round of chemo is a necessary evil if Lisa is to have a fighting chance against the cancer.

   My boss is a real piece of work, but my kids make keeping this job a necessary evil.

Translations

unfavorable thing that must be done or accepted

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: välttämätön paha
• French: mal nécessaire (fr) m
• German: notwendiges Übel n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: αναγκαίο κακό n (anagkaío kakó)
• Japanese: 必要悪 (ja) (hitsuyōaku)
• Korean: 필요악 (ko) (piryoak)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: mal necesario m

See also

• you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs