Go to MSN Homeencarta®
Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Click to move up the list of words
near-pack
near point
near post
near-public goods
near thing
nearby
nearby futures contract
nearby month
Nearctic
nearly
nearside
nearsighted
neat (1)
neat (2)
neat’s-foot oil
NEAT Scheme
neaten
Click to move down the list of words
Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

necessary evil
nec·es·sar·y e·vil (plural nec·es·sar·y e·vils)


noun 
Definition:
 
unpleasant necessity: something that is unpleasant or undesirable but is needed to achieve a result
Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Advertisement
© 2009 Microsoft