💡 Words with a Similar Meaning to "Necessary evil"
Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| lesser evilnoun | Synonym of lesser of two evils. |
| one of those thingsnoun | (idiomatic, often preceded by just) An unfortunate, but unavoidable, event. |
| evilnoun | Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good. |
| devilmentnoun | (uncountable) Devilish action or conduct; wickedness; (more generally) troublemaking behaviour; mischief; (countable) an instance of this. |
| bad thingnoun | (informal) An action that yields undesirable results to its subject. |
| costnoun | Amount of money, time, etc. that is required or used. |
| unblessingnoun | Something that makes one's life worse. |
| evil turnnoun | (dated) An act of unkindness or enmity; a bad deed. |
| dirty worknoun | (idiomatic) One or more unpleasant tasks, assignments, or employment duties, especially those of a disreputable or illicit nature. |
| evilfarenoun | (very rare) Ill-success; misfortune. |
| predicamentnoun | An unfortunate or trying position or condition. |
| fly in the ointmentnoun | (idiomatic) Something (especially a minor thing) which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasant; a nuisance or problem; a disagreeable or unpleasant detail. |
| mirenoun | An undesirable situation; a predicament. |
| inconveniencenoun | Something that is not convenient, something that bothers. |
| illfarenoun | Misfortune; detriment; harm; evilfare. |
| devilnoun | (theology) The chief devil; Satan. |
| evildoingnoun | An evil or wicked act, especially a crime. |
| fool's bargainnoun | (idiomatic) A bad bargain; one that leaves the person accepting it worse off. |
| hitchnoun | (informal) A problem, delay or source of difficulty. |
| chaotic evilnoun | (roleplaying games) Of a character: having an alignment that is chaotic (tending to disregard the laws and conventions of society) and evil (doing evil acts). |
Translate “Necessary evil” into Another Language
Pick a language — the word will be pre-filled in the translator.