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Necessary vs Mandatory - What's the difference?

necessary | mandatory |

As adjectives the difference between necessary and mandatory

is that necessary is needed, required while mandatory is obligatory; required or commanded by authority.

As nouns the difference between necessary and mandatory

is that necessary is bathroom, toilet, loo while mandatory is a person, organisation or state who receives a mandate; a mandatary.

necessary

English

(wikipedia necessary)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • needed, required
  • * Shakespeare
    • 'Tis necessary he should die.
  • * Tillotson
    • A certain kind of temper is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of our minds.
  • Such as must be; not to be avoided; inevitable.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Death, a necessary end, / Will come when it will come.
  • Acting from necessity or compulsion; involuntary.
    • Whether man is a necessary or a free agent is a question much discussed.

    Synonyms

    * (needed) See also * (such as must be) inevitable, natural

    Antonyms

    * (needed) unnecessary * (such as must be) evitable, incidental, impossible

    Derived terms

    * necessarily * necessary condition

    Related terms

    * necessariness * necessitate * necessitation * necessitousness * necessitude * necessity

    External links

    *

    Noun

    (necessaries)
  • (archaic, British) bathroom, toilet, loo

    • External links

    * *

    Statistics

    *

    mandatory

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Obligatory; required or commanded by authority.
    • Attendance at a school is usually mandatory .
  • * 1999 , Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind , page 276
    • This kind of immediate control structure we take to be characteristic of the tribe, and it leads to a rather rigid type of system in which 'every action not mandatory is forbidden'.
  • Of, being or relating to a mandate.
    • Mandatory Palestine

    Synonyms

    * compulsory * obligatory

    Antonyms

    * (obligatory) optional * (obligatory) elective

    Derived terms

    * mandatoriness

    Noun

    (mandatories)
  • (dated, rare) A person, organisation or state who receives a mandate; a mandatary.

    • External links

    * * * Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary * The Oxford English Dictionary

    Anagrams

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