Needful vs Exigent - What's the difference?
needful | exigent | Related terms |
Needed; necessary; mandatory; requisite; indispensible.
* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 5
Urgent; needing immediate action.
* 2003 , , U.S. Department of Defence
Demanding; needing great effort.
(archaic) Extremity; end; limit; pressing urgency
* 1591 ,
* 1611 ,
(obsolete, UK, legal) The name of a writ in proceedings before outlawry.
Needful is a related term of exigent.
As adjectives the difference between needful and exigent
is that needful is needed; necessary; mandatory; requisite; indispensible while exigent is urgent; needing immediate action.As nouns the difference between needful and exigent
is that needful is anything necessary or requisite while exigent is (archaic) extremity; end; limit; pressing urgency.needful
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- 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.
Usage notes
(Do the needful) Commonly found in phrases such as "do the needful" or "please do the needful"; which occur commonly in Indian English but are held as archaic in other dialects; nonetheless being heard more and more by speakers of said dialects in their interactions with speakers of Indian English. This has to some extent lead to these phrases being seen as stereotypical of Indian English and used in a parodying context by speakers of other dialects, some of whom may find their usage odd and/or pretentious.Derived terms
* do the needfulexigent
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Article 2 also provides that acts of torture cannot be justified on the grounds of exigent circumstances, such as state of war or public emergency, or on orders from a superior officer or public authority.
Derived terms
* allocatur exigentNoun
(en noun)- These eyes, like lamps whose wasting oil is spent, \ Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent ;
- Therefore as one complaineth, that always in the Senate of Rome, [Cicero 5° de finibus.] there was one or other that called for an interpreter: so lest the Church be driven to the like exigent , it is necessary to have translations in a readiness.
- (Abbott)
