Word.ws English Dictionary

needn't

Syllables: need·n't/niːdn̩t/

needn't verb: need not.

Verb

needn't

  1. (UK, auxiliary, formal, literary, negative) Need not.
    • We needn’t go to sleep early because tomorrow morning school starts late.
    • I needn’t have washed the car: shortly after it started raining.
    Synonyms:
    did/does/do not have to/need to

Examples of needn't in a sentence

  • Take it good and leave it good, that's what I do; and if Jem did the same, he'd be welcome to it for all I should say to him, and he needn't sign no more than me.1871 April 1, M. A. Paull, “‘I Needn’t Sign.’ (A Story for Wives, Founded on Fact.)”, in The Western Temperance Herald: The Official Organ...
  • It's true he needn't have been so assertive about it.1996, Karel Čapek, “The Yacht on the Lagoon”, in M. Weatherall, R. Weatherall, transl., War with the Newts, Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern...
  • We needn't swing the bludgeon when bargaining is still on the table.2010 October, Haha Lung with Christopher B. Prowant, Mind Warrior: Strategies for Total Mind Domination, New York, N.Y.: Citadel Press...
  • She needn't argue with Renee and Marian (she is speaking to them again) about the Black Panthers.2011, Mary Gordon, The Love of My Youth, New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books, →ISBN, page 195:

Synonyms of needn't

  • did/does/do not have to/need to

Origin of needn't

From need + -n't.

Questions about needn't

What does needn't mean?
Needn't means need not.
How do you use needn't in a sentence?
Take it good and leave it good, that's what I do; and if Jem did the same, he'd be welcome to it for all I should say to him, and he needn't sign no more than me.
What part of speech is needn't?
Needn't is a verb.
How do you pronounce needn't?
Needn't is pronounced /niːdn̩t/.

Words near needn't in the dictionary

  1. needlingly
  2. needlings
  3. needly
  4. needment
  5. needments
  6. needn't
  7. needn't've
  8. needna
  9. neednae
  10. needs
  11. needs analyses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: needn't (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-needn't.ogg.

Cite this entry: “needn't.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/needn%27t. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.