as in poverty
the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions
a family's general level of neediness is the determining factor in the allocation of charitable donations
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Recent Examples of neediness
To play Duncan Park, the head of a data-mining company who’s desperate to join the upper tier of the tech industry hierarchy in the AMC drama The Audacity, Billy Magnussen has to find a deep well of neediness and striving.
—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
2 June 2026
Is Suzanna’s gloomy neediness all that different from Becky’s gold-digging manipulations?
—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 Apr. 2026
Fontana is wearing a little thin on me with the constant neediness for approval.
—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2026
But wanting emotional consistency is not neediness.
—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
She was sandwiched between their needinesses.
—
Literary Hub,
5 Jan. 2026
On the second take, Russell’s bossy tone rubbed up nicely against the neediness of the moment.
—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
As Koestler observes, crying is a signal not just of surrender but of neediness, designed to elicit succor and comfort from sympathizers.
—
Big Think,
23 Sep. 2025
Still, Shannon is down in the dumps and annoyed by Tamra’s neediness to be forgiven for past sins.
—
Peter Larsen,
Oc Register,
19 Sep. 2025
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
2 June 2026
Is Suzanna’s gloomy neediness all that different from Becky’s gold-digging manipulations?
—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 Apr. 2026
Fontana is wearing a little thin on me with the constant neediness for approval.
—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2026
But wanting emotional consistency is not neediness.
—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
She was sandwiched between their needinesses.
—
Literary Hub,
5 Jan. 2026
On the second take, Russell’s bossy tone rubbed up nicely against the neediness of the moment.
—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
As Koestler observes, crying is a signal not just of surrender but of neediness, designed to elicit succor and comfort from sympathizers.
—
Big Think,
23 Sep. 2025
Still, Shannon is down in the dumps and annoyed by Tamra’s neediness to be forgiven for past sins.
—
Peter Larsen,
Oc Register,
19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for neediness
Noun
-
North Side schools have remained dominant in bringing in this outside funding, but some higher-poverty South and West Side campuses such as Kenwood increasingly held their own.
-
Those concerns already exist within New Haven, and leaders would need to balance the existence of more than $1 billion in combined economic investment into local quantum efforts with the needs of a city where one quarter of residents lived in poverty in 2023.
Noun
-
The episodes seemed to wallow in Carmy’s misery, along with the frustrations of everyone around him.
-
That’s a recipe for in-flight misery.
Cite this Entry
“Neediness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/neediness. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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