necessary evil

/nˈɛsəsəɹi ˈiːvəl/

/nˈɛsəsɚɹi ˈiːvəl/

[phrase]

necessary evil

[PHRASE]

an unpleasant thing that requires acceptance in order for a certain thing to be achieved

Examples

1. The American car dealership experience is one many seem to regard as a necessary evil.

2. Many of the founders, a bunch of whom you'll remember, held slaves, saw slavery as a necessary evil.

3. But as slavery became more entrenched in these ideas of liberty and political equality were embraced by more people, some southerners began to make the case that slavery wasn't just a necessary evil.

4. Yeah, late fees, we all hated them, but they were kind of a necessary evil to the rental business model.