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NECESSARY EVIL meaning: 1. something unpleasant that must be accepted in order to achieve a particular result: 2…. Learn more.
A necessary evil is an evil that someone believes must be done or accepted because it is necessary to achieve a better outcome—especially because possible alternative courses of action or inaction are expected to be worse.
NECESSARY EVIL definition: 1. something unpleasant that must be accepted in order to achieve a particular result: 2…. Learn more.
Learn how to use the idiom "necessary evil" to describe something unpleasant but essential for a greater good. Explore its origin, examples, variations, synonyms, antonyms, and cultural insights.
Learn the meaning of the phrase necessary evil, which refers to something that is needed but also has negative consequences. See how it is used in sentences from various sources, such as Christianity Today, Wikipedia and The Sun.
a thing that is unpleasant or even harmful, but which must be accepted because it brings some benefit: Injections against tropical illnesses are a necessary evil when you are planning to travel to that part of the world. ♢ I suppose all these security measures are a necessary evil.
If you say something is a necessary evil, you don't like it but you understand that it has to be accepted sometimes or it has to exist. For example Sandra says money's a necessary evil.
