Meaning
3 sensesIn need; poor.
Needy people want to give too, but have few material goods to offer.
poor enough to need help from others
Desiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.
Near-synonym: clingy
It's emotionally exhausting to be around her because she's so needy.
(archaic)Needful; necessary.
Examples
46 sentencesTranslations
2 languagesOrigin
From Middle English nedy, nedi (“necessitous”), from Old English nēdiġ, *nīediġ ("of need,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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
needier, neediestSynonyms
5 synonyms- poor enough to need help from others:destituteimpoverishedindigentnecessitouspoverty-stricken
Antonyms
2 antonymsWord family
6 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.