unnecessarilyadv.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈnɛsᵻs(ə)rᵻli/, /ˌʌnnɛsᵻˈsɛrᵻli/, U.S. /ˌənˌnɛsəˈsɛrəli/ In an unnecessary manner; needlessly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > [adverb] > needlessly or without necessity
unnecessarily1565
unneedfully1603
unnecessarly1609
needlessly1710
unnecessariously1798
1565 J. Hall tr. Lanfranc Most Excellent Woorke Chirurg. 97 To speake of it here so largly as D. Turner hath done, would vnnecessarily augmente this briefe worke.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie ii. iv. 102 I hope we shall not seeme altogether vnnecessarily to doubt of the soundnesse of their opinion.
1624 A. Leighton Speculum Belli Sacri xxxiv. 179 He would rather breake his enemies with delay, then unadvisadly, or unnecessarily, adventure his owne.
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 94 Excess of thickness is not only unnecessarily paid for, but it makes the Sheet worse.
1726 J. Webb Seasonable Warning 3 All such as unnecessarily keep Bad Company, are in the high Way to the greatest Destruction.
1786 W. Cowper Let. 5 Mar. (1981) II. 497 Again I remind you, though perhaps unnecessarily, of the 2 Volumes.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter I. viii. 152 You..unnecessarily agitate yourself.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) I. 312/2 Such furniture is unnecessarily heavy and clumsy.
1921 Mod. Lang. Notes 36 182 Are we breaking this delicate butterfly unnecessarily upon the wheel, by over-complexity of conjecture?
1960 A. MacLean Night without End ix. 173 Only fools kill wantonly and unnecessarily.
2005 New Yorker 26 Sept. 67/1 The unnecessarily disastrous effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1565