Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

necessary evil

An unfavorable thing that must be done or accepted, especially because the available alternative courses of action or inaction would be worse.
16 Views
“

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.

Collection   Edit    

Submitted on July 07, 2010

Translation

Find a translation for the necessary evil phrase in other languages:

nécessairement diabolique

gerekli kötülük

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to necessary evil

evil twinsufficient unto the day is the evil the…evil twinthree wise monkeys, see no evil, hear n…

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this necessary evil phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this necessary evil definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "necessary evil." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/necessary-evil_13795>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    It's _________ cats and dogs out there.
    A storming
    B snowing
    C raining
    D thundering

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ