needful

1 of 2

adjective

need·​ful ˈnēd-fəl How to pronounce needful (audio)
Synonyms of needfulnext
1
: being in need
2
needfully adverb
needfulness noun

needfulness

2 of 2

noun

need·​ful·​ness
plural -es
: the quality or state of being needful

Examples of needful in a Sentence

Adjective What's most needful now is patience. let's first help the needful families in our own community
Recent Examples on the Web
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Adjective
Her voice is slurred, needful, abject. Jayson Greene, Pitchfork, 8 May 2026 That image of God never has a problem, never has a disease, never lacks anything needful or truly desirable, and has never sinned. Douglas Sytsma, Christian Science Monitor, 30 Jan. 2025 Who promises tomorrows to a whole needful planet, restrikes that match? Corey Van Landingham, The New Yorker, 19 June 2023 They are not found to be such on the injustice and violence of individuals, and lose their efficacy in proportion to the number combined together, that is, in proportion as their efficacy becomes needful. James Freeman, WSJ, 27 Dec. 2022 For Queen and other Black poets, hip-hop is not only beats and rhymes but something more needful. Adam Bradley, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2021 Oxfam exhorts its supporters to send things to the needful Cratchits of the developing world. Matthew Sweet, The Economist, 4 Dec. 2020 McBride was touched by the way, in their later years, Marcroft was the primary caregiver for Joyce, who had become needful of that care. Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Nov. 2020 What sort of response was needful? Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 Jan. 2013

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English nedefulnes, from nedefull + -nes -ness

First Known Use

Adjective

1671, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of needful was in 1671

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Needful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/needful. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.

Kids Definition

needful

adjective
need·​ful
ˈnēd-fəl
: necessary for a purpose
needfully
-fə-lē
adverb
needfulness noun

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