needful

[need-fuh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR needful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

necessary or required: needful supplies.

needy.

Idioms

the needful, Slang. money, especially immediately available cash: They haven't the needful for a car right now.

Origin of needful

Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; see origin at need, -ful

Related formsneed·ful·ly, adverbneed·ful·ness, nounun·need·ful, adjectiveun·need·ful·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for needful

capital, cardinal, chief, constitutive, crucial, foremost, fundamental, imperative, indispensable, leading, main, necessary, necessitous, needed, prerequisite, principal, required, requisite, wanted, right-hand

Examples from the Web for needful

Historical Examples of needful

It was needful to implore them since they found the assurance so difficult to believe.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
It is needful, therefore, to understand it as accurately as may be, however we may judge it.
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris
Money was needful to extricate him from this drudgery and let him follow up his aspirations.
Heroes of the Telegraph
J. Munro
I have lodged the needful in the bank, to purchase a commission for you, my son.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
The seamen in return purvey the needful luxuries for lumber-camps.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862
Various

British Dictionary definitions for needful

needful

adjective

necessary; needed; required

archaic needy; poverty-stricken

noun

the needful informal money or fundsdo you have the needful?

do the needful to perform a necessary task

Derived Formsneedfully, adverbneedfulness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for needful

adj.

late 12c., niedfulle, "needy," from need (n.) + -ful. Meaning "characterized by need" is from mid-13c.; meaning "indispensable" is from mid-14c.; noun meaning "what is necessary" is from 1709. Colloquial sense of "cash" is recorded from 1774 in phrase the needful "money." Related: Needfully.