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View synonyms for needful

needful

[ need-fuhl ]

adjective

  1. necessary or required:

    needful supplies.



needful

/ ˈniːdfʊl /

adjective

  1. necessary; needed; required
  2. archaic.
    needy; poverty-stricken
“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


noun

  1. the needful informal.
    money or funds

    do you have the needful?

  2. do the needful
    to perform a necessary task
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈneedfulness, noun
  • ˈneedfully, adverb
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Other Words From

  • needful·ly adverb
  • needful·ness noun
  • un·needful adjective
  • un·needful·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of needful1

Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; need, -ful
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. the needful, Slang. money, especially immediately available cash:

    They haven't the needful for a car right now.

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Example Sentences

He became irritable, distressed, and anxious—struggled hard to get the needful sum together, struggled and strove; but failed.

It is needful to have the time fixed, and the law therefore has established a reasonable time.

There are many cases like this in which one's common sense fails to furnish a correct, yet needful guide.

The period of infancy is fixed by law, and is therefore a conventional, yet needful regulation.

Rise early enough to have ample time for arranging everything needful for the day's journey.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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