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needful

needful

5 8.6
Required for a particular purpose
  • adjective
  • /ˈnidfəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : necesario
  • The committee will take all needful steps to ensure the safety of the participants.
  • the most needful

Examples

  • But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I feel I've not been privy to critical, most needful information.

  • We not only have a right to our lives, but to do whatever we regard is needful to protect our lives.

  • One more thing is needful for my destiny to be fulfilled.

  • God knoweth best what is needful for us, and all that He does is for our good.

    Blog text (29)
  • We believe that this experience has been needful for a lot of people, if they can realise too that... that there is a chance, that there is an opportunity to be at peace, to be at rest, with the help of the Lord.

  • There are agencies that never advertise, as their business, though needful, is illegal.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Thank you for doing these shorts that are meaningful, poetic, yet so needful in this day and age.

    Blog text (27)
  • The baby was, like all babies, trusting, hungry, squirming, and needful.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • To clarify ambiguities in the Code, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to issue "all needful rules and regulations." (79)

    Academic text (2018)

Synonyms

requisite
vsneedful
28 6.2

Needed for a particular purpose

is more marked as archaic or formal than this term
needly
vsneedful
  • Archaic
9.9

Required and cannot be avoided

is similar but more often formal or old fashioned
needed
vsneedful
1.0

Required for a particular purpose or to make something possible

is more formal or old fashioned in tone than this everyday sense
required
vsneedful
  • Formal
1.4

Something a rule, law, or official says you must have

is about general necessity rather than legal obligation

Antonyms

300 1.6

More than is needed or wanted

22 7.0

More than what is needed or useful

How Necessary

indispensable
48 4.6
essential
537 1.9
necessary
1.0
needful
  • Archaic
5 8.6
useful
947 1.0
optional
99 3.3
unnecessary
300 1.6

Surface Forms

needful positive

Morphology

needful = need (transparent) = need + ful

Standard adjective formation from the noun 'need' with the productive suffix '-ful', yielding 'necessary' or 'required'.

Etymology

The word needful comes from need ('to require') and the ending -ful ('full of'), so it originally meant 'full of need' and therefore 'something you must have'. That's why needful now means 'necessary' or 'required'.