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needful

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
11
Words With Friends
14
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ˈniːdfl̩/

Definition of needful

4 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Needed; necessary; mandatory; requisite; indispensable.
    “And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That in every Town in the Colony, where Bread is Baken for Sale, there ſhall be Choſen one Clerk of the Market, or more, as each Town ſhall find needful, at their Annual Election of Town Officers, who ſhall duly be Engaged, to the faithful performance of ſaid Office, as other Town Officers are ;[…]”
    “So I went to keep house with him at the Why Not? and my aunt sent down my bag of clothes, and would have made over to Elzevir the pittance that my father left for my keep, but he said it was not needful, and he would have none of it.”
See all 4 definitions

adj

  1. Needed; necessary; mandatory; requisite; indispensable.
    “And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That in every Town in the Colony, where Bread is Baken for Sale, there ſhall be Choſen one Clerk of the Market, or more, as each Town ſhall find needful, at their Annual Election of Town Officers, who ſhall duly be Engaged, to the faithful performance of ſaid Office, as other Town Officers are ;[…]”
    “So I went to keep house with him at the Why Not? and my aunt sent down my bag of clothes, and would have made over to Elzevir the pittance that my father left for my keep, but he said it was not needful, and he would have none of it.”
  2. (archaic)Needy; in need.
    “[…] where his active benevolence was ever found in cheerful co-operation for the cause of the humble & needful orphan […]”

noun

  1. Anything necessary or requisite.
    “I think better of you for looking steadily to the needful.”
  2. (slang)Ready money; wherewithal.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English needeful, nedeful, from Old English nēodful (“necessary; earnest; zealous”). Equivalent to need + -ful. Cognate with Dutch noodvol, German notvoll.

Anagrams of needful

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