different between helpful vs needful

English

Alternative forms

• helpfull (archaic)

Etymology

help +? -ful

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?lp.f?l/, /?h?lp.f?l/

Adjective

helpful (comparative more helpful, superlative most helpful)

1. Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.

   Antonym: unhelpful

Derived terms

• helpfully
• helpfulness
• unhelpful

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• nedefull, needfull

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ni?df?l/
• Hyphenation: need?ful

Adjective

needful (comparative more needful, superlative most needful)

1. Needed; necessary; mandatory; requisite; indispensible.

   Antonym: needless

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 5

     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.
   • 1860, Union Society of Savannah, Minutes of the Union Society (page 114)

     […] where his active benevolence was ever found in cheerful co-operation for the cause of the humble & needful orphan […]

Derived terms

• needfully
• needfulness

Noun

needful (plural needfuls)

1. (slang) Ready money; wherewithal.
2. (India, chiefly archaic in other dialects) Anything necessary or requisite.

Usage notes

Commonly found in phrases such as "kindly do the needful", which occurs commonly in Indian English but is held as archaic in other dialects. Global interactions between English speakers have to some extent led to these phrases being seen as stereotypical of Indian English and parodied by speakers of other dialects.

Derived terms

• do the needful

Anagrams

• Neufeld