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Synonyms

needful

American  
[need-fuhl] / ˈnid fəl /

adjective

  1. necessary or required.

    needful supplies.

  2. needy.

idioms

  1. the needful, money, especially immediately available cash.

    They haven't the needful for a car right now.
needful British  
/ 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. informal money or funds

    do you have the needful?

  2. 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

Other Word Forms

  • needfully adverb
  • needfulness noun
  • unneedful adjective
  • unneedfully adverb

Etymology

Origin of needful

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

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.