unneeded

U1N1N1E1E1D2E1D2

adjective

Not needed.

Similar
superfluousunnecessaryexcessextraredundantgratuitousneedlessuncalled-for
OriginEnglish needed ← Middle English un- ← Old English un- →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

adjectiveunneeded (comparative more unneeded, superlative most unneeded)

comparative more unneeded · superlative most unneeded

  1. Not needed.

    The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Texas is one of only a handful of sites around the world that conduct medical research on great apes. Scientists say their research is conducted humanely, but many animal rights groups say testing on chimps is unneeded and unethical.

    2011 June 2, “The Science And Ethics Of Research On Chimps”, in NPR, retrieved 12 Nov 2022

    Synonyms: superfluous

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveNot needed.

Similar
superfluous

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivenot necessary

Similar
unnecessaryexcessextraredundantgratuitousneedlessuncalled-forinessentialspare
Also see
excessextragratuitousinessentialneedlessredundantsparesupererogatorysuperfluoussupernumerarysurplusuncalled-forunnecessary

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishneeded
  9. Englishunneeded

From un- + needed.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian нену́жен
  • нену́жен (nenúžen)not needed, not
Chinese Mandarin 不需要
  • 不需要 (bùxūyào)not needed, not
Czech nepotřebný
  • nepotřebnýnot needed, not
Dutch onnodig, overbodig
  • onnodignot needed, not
  • overbodignot needed, not
Finnish tarpeeton
  • tarpeetonnot needed, not
French inutile
  • inutilenot needed, not
German unnötig
  • unnötignot needed, not
Hindi अनावश्यक
  • अनावश्यक (anāvaśyak)not needed, not
Japanese 不必要な
  • 不必要な (fuhitsuyō na)not needed, not
Korean 불필요한
  • 불필요한 (bulpiryohan)not needed, not
Norwegian unødvendig
  • unødvendignot needed, not
Polish niepotrzebny
  • niepotrzebnynot needed, not
Russian нену́жный
  • нену́жный (nenúžnyj)not needed, not
Slovak nepotrebný
  • nepotrebnýnot needed, not
Spanish innecesario
  • innecesarionot needed, not
Swedish onödig
  • onödignot needed, not
Tamil தேவையற்றது
  • தேவையற்றது (tēvaiyaṟṟatu)not needed, not
Turkish gereksiz, lüzumsuz
  • gereksiznot needed, not
  • lüzumsuznot needed, not
  • istenmeyennot needed, not
  • kullanılmayannot needed, not
Ukrainian непотрі́бний
  • непотрі́бний (nepotríbnyj)not needed, not
Cite this entry
APA

unneeded. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unneeded

MLA

“unneeded.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unneeded. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unneeded,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unneeded.

Source: unneeded on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.