Needless

How to spell needless

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce needless

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does needless mean?

1. adjectiveNot needed; unnecessary, especially in a way that could easily have been avoided.

Needless in a sentence

• The long delay caused needless stress for the whole team.

• Clear instructions would have saved them this needless confusion.

Where does needless come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word joins the native English noun 'need' with the suffix '-less', meaning 'without' or 'lacking'. 'Need' comes from the Old English 'nied' or 'nead', which meant a necessity, a constraint, or even a forced compulsion, and it traces back through the West Germanic family to roots shared with Dutch 'nood' and German 'Not'. The suffix '-less' derives from the Old English 'leas', meaning 'free from' or 'devoid of', the same element that sits in countless words such as 'careless' and 'fearless'. Put together, 'needless' literally describes something that is without need, that is, unnecessary, and this sense has been in use since around the fourteenth century. Because the suffix is simply '-less', the spelling keeps the double 's' that learners sometimes trim down to one.

How the word is built

• need (Old English nied: necessity, want)
• -less (without)