Meanings
comparative needier · superlative neediest
- In need; poor.
Needy people want to give too, but have few material goods to offer.
1 more example
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.
2012 February 29, Aidan Foster-Carter, “North Korea: The denuclearisation dance resumes”, in BBC News - Desiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.
Near-synonym: clingy
1 more example
It's emotionally exhausting to be around her because she's so needy.
Synonyms: clingy
- archaicNeedful; necessary.
It is the measure of things, and their time (that is, their measure, as to space and time), and yet it is above, and prior to, time: it is full in needy things, and overflows in full things; it is unutterable, innominable: it is above understanding […]
1861, Isaak August Dorner, Patrick Fairbairn, History of the development of the doctrine of the person of Christ
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDesiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.
antonym(s) of “desiring constant affirmation”
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivepoor enough to need help from others
adjectivedemanding or needing attention, affection, or reassurance to an excessive degree
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*naudigaz“of need, forced, compelled”
- Old Englishnēdiġ
- Middle Englishnedy
- Englishneedy
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Portuguese carente
- carenteneeding constant affirmation
Spanish necesitante, necesitoso
- necesitanteneeding constant affirmation
- necesitosoneeding constant affirmation
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with needy
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
needy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/needy
“needy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/needy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “needy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/needy.
Source: needy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.