Strong Necessity

[hains]

Is it okay to use the adjective "strong" in "strong necessity" like:

"They ignored the strong necessity for a balanced budget."

I looked up some dictionary ( learnersdictionary.com/search/strong ) , but couldn't find a good definition for "strong" for the above example. Is my example wrong?

 

[probus]

Some people would argue that necessary is not a gradable adjective. Something is either necessary or it is not. By this logic, necessity cannot be either strong or weak.

Speaking personally I have no problem with strong necessity, at least in colloquial speech.

 

[hains]

So, "strongly necessary" is also not acceptable?

 

[Jaskin]

hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

as for me : absolute, stark, compelling or clear necessity could be used for emphasis;

 

[probus]

I didn't say strong necessity was unacceptable. I said I had no problem with it, but that some people would argue ...

Strongly necessary is also fine with me in everyday speech, although I would avoid it in formal writing.

 

[hains]

So, "strong" and "strongly" don't mean "very"?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I have no problem with that usage. The adjective "strong" intensifies the noun.

 

[probus]

So, "strong" and "strongly" don't mean "very"?

If I could invoke the clone-checker here, I would.

 

[5jj]

If I could invoke the clone-checker here, I would.

You are right.

Thread closed.