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Webster 1913 Edition

Needy

Need′y

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Needier
;
sup
erl.
Neediest
.]
1.
Distressed by want of the means of living; very poor; indigent; necessitous.
Thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy
needy
in thy land.
Deut. xv. 11.
Spare the blushes of
needy
merit.
Dr. T. Dwight.
2.
Necessary; requisite.
[Obs.]
Corn to make your
needy
bread.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Needy

NEEDY

,
Adj.
Necessitous; indigent; very poor; distressed by want of the means of living.
To relieve the needy and comfort the afflicted, are duties that fall in our way every day.
Spare the blushes of needy merit.

Definition 2024

needy

needy

English

Adjective

needy ‎(comparative needier, superlative neediest)

  1. In need, poor.
    Needy people want to give too, but have few material goods to offer.
    • 29 February 2012, Aidan Foster-Carter, BBC News North Korea: The denuclearisation dance resumes
      Such monitoring has often been a sticking point in the past, amid fears that food aid might be diverted to the Northern elite - or its military - rather than the needy.
  2. Desiring constant affirmation, lacking in self confidence
    "It's emotionally exhausting to be around her because she's so needy."

Antonyms

  • ("desiring constant affirmation): confident

Synonyms

  • ("in need"): See also Wikisaurus:impoverished

Derived terms

Translations

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”), Dutch nodig ‎(“necessary”), Middle Low German nōdich ‎(“necessary, urgent, by requirement”), German nötig ‎(“necessary, needful”), Danish nødig ‎(“necessary”), Swedish nödig ‎(“necessary”), Icelandic nauðugur ‎(“constrained”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈniːdi/
  • Rhymes: -iːdi

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