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Longman Dictionary English

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha necessary evila necessary evilMUSTsomething bad or unpleasant that you have to accept in order to achieve what you want Mr Hurst regarded work as a necessary evil. → necessary
Examples from the Corpus
a necessary evil• I, for one, consider yard work to be a necessary evil.• Mr Waldegrave's shambolic performance in the press conference was a necessary evil.• We do not look at government as a necessary evil.• It may be a necessary evil, but it is surely an evil.• However, the authors, like most others then and now, saw those shortcomings as a necessary evil in maintaining control.• They're a necessary evil, like the woman who sawed off all my lovely hair.• Lawyers are a necessary evil that I try to use as little as possible due to their cost.• Bureaucracy was also a necessary evil to cope with the ravages of war.• They viewed such methods as a necessary evil, unavoidable yet somehow beneath their dignity.
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May 09, 2025

pencil
noun ˈpensl
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