needy
/ˈniːdi/ adjective
Forms needier neediest
- adjective In need; poor. “Needy people want to give too, but have few material goods to offer.”
- adjective Desiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence. “It's emotionally exhausting to be around her because she's so needy.”
- adjective (archaic) Needful; necessary.
Synonyms
clingy destitute impoverished indigent necessitous poverty-stricken
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English nedy, nedi (“necessitous”), from Old English nēdiġ, *nīediġ ("of need, obligated, compelled"; found in the derivative nīediġnes (“obligation”)), from Proto-Germanic *naudigaz (“of need, forced, compelled”), equivalent to need + -y. Cognate with Scots nedy, neidy (“needy, necessitous, impoverished”), Saterland Frisian niedich (“miserable, poor, wretched, needy”), Saterland Frisian nöödich (“necessary, needful”), West Frisian nedich (“needful, needed”), Dutch nodig (“necessary”), Middle Low German nōdich (“necessary, urgent, by requirement”), German nötig (“necessary, needful”), Danish nødig (“necessary”), Swedish nödig (“necessary”), Icelandic nauðugur (“constrained”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Distressed by want of the means of living; very por; indigent; necessitous.
- adjective Necessary; requiste. [Obs.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “needy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details