Needy Meaning

/ˈniːdi/
C1

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjIn need; poor.

adjDesiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.

We should help the needy.
The city supplied the needy with blankets.
What marvelous work he's doing, donating books to needy children!
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The local charity helps ____ families who cannot afford food or shelter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local charity provides food and shelter for ____ families in the area.

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”).

"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:
"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:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The local charity helps ____ families who cannot afford food or shelter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local charity provides food and shelter for ____ families in the area.

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