unnecessarily

adverb

un·​nec·​es·​sar·​i·​ly ˌən-ˌne-sə-ˈser-ə-lē 

: not by necessity : to an unnecessary degree

unnecessarily harsh criticism

Examples of unnecessarily in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Officials reminded the public to inform someone of your departure and expected time of return when setting out for a trip, and to stay in place if lost so as not to expand the search area unnecessarily. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026

Models will change, prices will change, and roles that make sense today may look unnecessarily narrow a year from now. — Arthur Azizov, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026

General Daily Insight for September 28, 2026 A fresh approach could solve something that has felt unnecessarily complicated. — Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026

Some administration officials argue that Washington is merely trying to avoid unnecessarily infuriating Beijing. — David Sacks, Foreign Affairs, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unnecessarily

• extraordinarily
• hereditarily
• pecuniarily
• preliminarily
• airily
• caroli
• merrily
• verily
• warily
• wearily
• arbitrarily
• customarily

Kids Definition

unnecessarily

adverb

un·​nec·​es·​sar·​i·​ly ˌən-ˌnes-ə-ˈser-ə-lē 

1

: not by necessity

spent money unnecessarily

2

: to an unnecessary degree

an unnecessarily harsh punishment