different between needful vs important

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English important, from Medieval Latin important-, import?ns.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?p??t?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?p??t?nt/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?m?po(?)?t?nt/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?m?po?t?nt/

Adjective

important (comparative more important, superlative most important)

1. Having relevant and crucial value.
   • 1988, Robert Ferro, Second Son:

     For this was the most important thing, that when a person felt strongly about an issue in life, it mustn’t be ignored by others; for if it was, everything subsequent to it would turn out badly, even though there should seem to be no direct connection.
2. (obsolete) Pompous; self-important.

Synonyms

• significant
• weighty
• See also Thesaurus:important

Antonyms

• negligible
• ignorable
• petty
• slight
• unimportant

Derived terms

• importantly, importantness, unimportant, VIP

Related terms

• import
• importance

Translations

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.po??tant/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /im.pur?tan/

Adjective

important (masculine and feminine plural importants)

1. important

Derived terms

• importantment

Related terms

• importància

Further reading

• “important” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “important” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “important” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “important” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.p??.t??/

Adjective

important (feminine singular importante, masculine plural importants, feminine plural importantes)

1. important

2. significant

Derived terms

• importance

Verb

important

1. present participle of importer

Further reading

• “important” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

important

1. third-person plural present active indicative of import?

Occitan

Pronunciation

Adjective

important m (feminine singular importanta, masculine plural importants, feminine plural importantas)

1. important

Related terms

• importància

Romanian

Etymology

From French important.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [im.por?tant]

Adjective

important m or n (feminine singular important?, masculine plural importan?i, feminine and neuter plural importante)

1. important

Declension

Related terms

• importan??