needless
part of speech
adjective (needless); adverb needlessly
meaning for a pupil
1) Not necessary, and often causing harm or waste that could have been avoided: «needless suffering». tree →
2) «Needless to say» means «as you would expect» or «it is obvious that…». tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and the news, «needless» warns that something bad did not have to happen: needless deaths, needless waste. In everyday talk «needless to say» introduces something obvious. Phrases: «needless to say», «needless waste», «needless risk», «needlessly cruel».
examples
- It was needless to leave the lights on all night. tree →
- Needless to say, we were very hungry after the long walk. tree →
- Wearing a helmet prevents needless injuries. tree →
- The fight caused needless pain. tree →
- He worried needlessly; the test was easy. tree →
- Throwing away good food is a needless waste. tree →
- It is needless to say what the dragons were like, for nowadays everyone knows, and dragons are not things to joke about. tree →
note
Do not confuse with «needy» (poor, needing help) or «needles» (sewing pins, plural). «Needless to say» is a fixed phrase, often at the start of a sentence.
In the corpora
- Free speech is precious, but so is not causing needless hurt to others.
- Disagreeing with someone's religion is fine; mocking what they hold holy causes needless hurt.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «needless» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.