needy

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adjective \ˈnē-dē\

: not having enough money, food, etc., to live properly

: needing a lot of attention, affection, or emotional support

need·i·erneed·i·est

Full Definition of NEEDY

1

:  being in want :  poverty-stricken <needy families>

2

:  marked by want of affection, attention, or emotional support <emotionally needy>

— need·i·ness noun

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Examples of NEEDY

1. As a child, she was extremely needy and had no self-confidence.
2. <those generous souls who regularly give money and donate clothes to help the needy>

First Known Use of NEEDY

12th century

Related to NEEDY

Synonyms

beggared, beggarly, broke, destitute, dirt-poor, down-and-out, famished, hard up, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, necessitous, needful, poor, pauperized, penniless, penurious, poverty-stricken, skint [chiefly British], threadbare

Antonyms

affluent, deep-pocketed, fat, fat-cat, flush, moneyed (also monied), opulent, rich, silk-stocking, wealthy, well-heeled, well-off, well-to-do

Related Words

deprived, disadvantaged, dispossessed, unaffluent, underprivileged; bankrupt, bankrupted, bust (or busted), insolvent; possessionless, ruined; depressed, distressed, hand-to-mouth, hardscrabble, pinched, poorish, reduced, straitened; cash-strapped, low, short, tapped out

Near Antonyms

comfortable, prosperous

Rhymes with NEEDY

beady, deedy, greedy, reedy, seedy, speedy, tweedy, weedy