English · Proverb Candidate

needs must when the devil drives

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Necessity can force one to do something unpleasant or undesirable

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Sự cần thiết có thể buộc người ta làm điều gì đó khó chịu hoặc không mong muốn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: the devil forcing someone to act

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Sources & notes

Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Devils & ghosts

Common questions

What does “needs must when the devil drives” mean?

Necessity can force one to do something unpleasant or undesirable Literally: the devil forcing someone to act

Is “needs must when the devil drives” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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