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unnecessary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 3 August 2008

Etymology

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From un- +‎ necessary.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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unnecessary (comparative more unnecessary, superlative most unnecessary)

  1. Not needed or necessary.
    The automatic child-frightener made clowns unnecessary.
    • 1956 September, 'Precursor', “The Dursley & Midland Junction Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 599:
      Every possible economy was carefully investigated and unnecessary expense, however small, eliminated. The company had no money to spare on "frills."
    • 2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      Robins, of Torquay, had denied a single charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. She claimed the microwave was accidentally turned on by one of the cats after the kitten got inside. But Knutton said the kitten was too small to even get onto the work surface.
    • 2018 December 3, Jacqueline Howard, “Are statins overprescribed? Why the risks and benefits are so complex”, in CNN‎[2]:
      Yet some of the statin side effects mentioned in the study have not been proved in the scientific literature or are exaggerated and could cause unnecessary worry, he said.
  2. Done in addition to requirements; unrequired.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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