needful
1 of 2adjective
need·ful ˈnēd-fəl 
1
: being in need
2
: necessary, requisite
needfully
ˈnēd-fə-lē
adverb needfulness noun
needful
2 of 2noun
1
: something needed or requisite
2
: money
Synonyms
Adjective
- all-important
- critical
- essential
- imperative
- indispensable
- integral
- must-have
- necessary
- necessitous
- needed
- required
- requisite
- vital
Noun
- bread [slang]
- bucks
- cabbage [slang]
- cash
- change
- chips
- coin
- currency
- dough
- gold
- green
- jack [slang]
- kale [slang]
- legal tender
- lolly [British]
- long green [slang]
- loot
- lucre
- money
- moola [slang]
- moolah
- pelf
- scratch [slang]
- shekels
- sheqels
- shekelim
- shekalim
- sheqalim
- tender
- wampum
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Adjective What's most needful now is patience. let's first help the needful families in our own community Noun fortunately, the family had the needful to stock up the larder before the long hard winter packed a warm jacket and other needfuls for an autumn weekend in the country
Recent Examples on the Web
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 Many proponents of critical race theory — whose animating idea is that race is the one thing needful, the single lens through which all other phenomena should be viewed — are indeed trying to compel compliance. Greg Weiner, National Review, 10 Sep. 2020 Soon we may be pressed into other kinds of service—adult medicine, or ICU medicine, or whatever is most needful. Anastasia Edel, The New York Review of Books, 22 Mar. 2020 Vincent had pushed his sunglasses back across his forehead, which made his face seem small, like that of a needful pet. New York Times, 18 Feb. 2020 Within this needful drama, though, there are plenty of light touches. Kyle Smith, National Review, 11 July 2019 Or not being able to provide something immediately needful to your children. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 26 Sep. 2019 See More
Adjective
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 Many proponents of critical race theory — whose animating idea is that race is the one thing needful, the single lens through which all other phenomena should be viewed — are indeed trying to compel compliance. Greg Weiner, National Review, 10 Sep. 2020 Soon we may be pressed into other kinds of service—adult medicine, or ICU medicine, or whatever is most needful. Anastasia Edel, The New York Review of Books, 22 Mar. 2020 Vincent had pushed his sunglasses back across his forehead, which made his face seem small, like that of a needful pet. New York Times, 18 Feb. 2020 Within this needful drama, though, there are plenty of light touches. Kyle Smith, National Review, 11 July 2019 Or not being able to provide something immediately needful to your children. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 26 Sep. 2019 See More Word History
First Known Use
Adjective
1671, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1614, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
needful
adjective
need·ful ˈnēd-fəl
: necessary entry 1
… bring her back, by force, if needful … Charles Dickens, The Cricket on the Hearth
Charles Dickens, The Cricket on the Hearthneedful 1 of 2
adjective
1
as in necessary
impossible to do without purchase needful provisions Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- necessary
- required
- needed
- essential
- integral
- vital
- imperative
- crucial
- indispensable
- critical
- important
- requisite
- all-important
- necessitous
- mandatory
- compulsory
- prerequisite
- must-have
- basic
- urgent
- key
- fundamental
- of the essence
- obligatory
- major
- meaningful
- momentous
- organic
- pressing
- central
- substantial
- material
- insistent
- significant
- consequential
- persistent
- nonelective
- weighty
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- unnecessary
- needless
- nonessential
- unessential
- dispensable
- unimportant
- superfluous
- unneeded
- unwanted
- extra
- inessential
- undesired
- insignificant
- excess
- extraneous
- external
- inconsequential
- surplus
2
as in poor
lacking money or material possessions let's first help the needful families in our own community Synonyms & Similar Words
- poor
- impoverished
- broke
- needy
- deprived
- necessitous
- beggared
- beggarly
- destitute
- impecunious
- bankrupt
- indigent
- hard up
- famished
- penurious
- pauperized
- threadbare
- depressed
- bankrupted
- penniless
- out of pocket
- disadvantaged
- skint
- underprivileged
- poverty-stricken
- out at elbows
- distressed
- out at the elbows
- down on one's luck
- down-and-out
- dispossessed
- ruined
- straitened
- dirt-poor
- short
- unaffluent
- reduced
- insolvent
- possessionless
- bust
- tapped out
- pinched
- busted
- poorish
- hardscrabble
- low
- cash-strapped
- hand-to-mouth
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- rich
- affluent
- wealthy
- moneyed
- opulent
- monied
- flush
- comfortable
- fat
- prosperous
- well-to-do
- well-off
- well-heeled
- silk-stocking
- deep-pocketed
- fat-cat
needful
2 of 2noun
1
as in money
something (as pieces of stamped metal or printed paper) customarily and legally used as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment fortunately, the family had the needful to stock up the larder before the long hard winter Synonyms & Similar Words
- money
- cash
- coin
- currency
- bucks
- tender
- funds
- change
- lucre
- dough
- legal tender
- gold
- pelf
- coinage
- green
- moolah
- long green
- loot
- wampum
- resources
- shekels
- lolly
- moola
- chips
- sheqalim
- bread
- scratch
- shekalim
- dollar
- cabbage
- specie
- kale
- means
- scrip
- sheqels
- shekelim
- promissory note
- money order
- jack
- wherewithal
- finances
- paper money
- bill
- wallet
- capital
- check
- riches
- pittance
- big bucks
- boodle
- note
- abundance
- draft
- wealth
- treasure
- earth
- mint
- chump change
- folding money
- mite
- dime
- pocket money
- banknote
- greenback
- dead presidents
- bundle
- opulence
- roll
- peanuts
- bankroll
- pin money
- fortune
- petty cash
- pile
- megabucks
- spending money
- mad money
- dibs
- shoestring
- wad
- pot
- cashier's check
- king's ransom
- packet
- bomb
2
as in must
something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable packed a warm jacket and other needfuls for an autumn weekend in the country Synonyms & Similar Words
- must
- requirement
- necessity
- necessary
- essential
- need
- requisite
- demand
- condition
- must-have
- prerequisite
- sine qua non
- precondition
- advantage
- wish
- plus
- desideratum
- desideration
- edge
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- extra
- superfluity
- indulgence
- surplus
- nonessential
- comfort
- surplusage
- luxury
- extravagance
- nonnecessity
- frill
- amenity