needful
7
8.6
- adjective
- /ˈnidfəl/
- Archaic
- 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
924
1.0
Required for a particular purpose or to make something possible
438
1.4
Something a rule, law, or official says you must have
26
6.2
Needed for a particular purpose
1
9.9
Required and cannot be avoided
Antonyms
How Necessary
42
4.6
502
1.9
∞
1.0
- Archaic
7
8.6
865
1.0
90
3.3
271
1.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
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'.