adjectiveadverb

unbedingt

definitely · absolutely

Etwas muss auf jeden Fall so sein, ohne Ausnahme oder Bedingung.

Unbedingt is mainly an adverb meaning:

It expresses strong necessity, certainty, or insistence.

As an adjective, unbedingt means unconditional, absolute, or unrestricted:

Unbedingt can be used as:

An adverb: it does not change its form.
- Sie will unbedingt mitkommen. — “She definitely wants to come along.”
An adjective: it can receive endings when placed before a noun.
- ein unbedingter Wille — “an absolute will”
- mit unbedingter Loyalität — “with unconditional loyalty”

The word consists of:

un- — a prefix expressing negation or the opposite
bedingt — “conditional” or “conditioned,” from bedingen , “to condition” or “to cause”

Literally, unbedingt means “not conditional” or “without conditions.”

absolut — “absolutely”; often stronger and more general
auf jeden Fall — “in any case” or “definitely”; more conversational
definitiv — “definitely”; emphasizes certainty rather than necessity
gewiss — “certainly” or “surely”; often sounds more formal
notwendigerweise — “necessarily”; focuses specifically on logical or practical necessity

bedingt ? — “conditional” or “limited by conditions”; the direct opposite in the adjective sense
möglicherweise — “possibly”; expresses uncertainty rather than certainty
vielleicht — “perhaps”; weaker and uncertain
optional — “optional”; indicates that something is not necessary

unbedingt müssen — to absolutely have to
etwas unbedingt wollen — to desperately or absolutely want something
etwas unbedingt brauchen — to absolutely need something
unbedingt notwendig — absolutely necessary
unbedingt empfehlenswert — highly recommended
Das musst du unbedingt sehen. — “You absolutely must see that.”
Komm unbedingt vorbei! — “Be sure to come by!”
nicht unbedingt — “not necessarily”; a common expression that softens or limits a statement
- Das ist nicht unbedingt falsch. — “That is not necessarily wrong.”