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View synonyms for necessitous

necessitous

[nuh-ses-i-tuhs]

adjective

  1. destitute or impoverished; needy; indigent.

    to aid a necessitous young mother.

  2. being essential or unavoidable.

    a necessitous discharge of responsibilities.

  3. requiring immediate attention or action; urgent.

    the necessitous demands of the oil shortage.



necessitous

/ nɪˈsɛsɪtəs /

adjective

  1. very needy; destitute; poverty-stricken

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Word Forms

  • necessitously adverb
  • necessitousness noun
  • nonnecessitous adjective
  • nonnecessitously adverb
  • nonnecessitousness noun
  • unnecessitous adjective
  • unnecessitously adverb
  • unnecessitousness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of necessitous1

First recorded in 1605–15; necessit(y) + -ous
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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Back in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt, in his inaugural address, pointed out that "a necessitous man is not a free man."

Read more on Salon

As memories of subsistence struggles recede, people who are no longer necessitous are indeed free — free to use politics for unpleasant self-expression.

Read more on Washington Post

“If you just can’t get ‘necessitous’ out, and the author’s happy with it, you can go for ‘needy’.”

Read more on The Guardian

FDR said “necessitous men are not free men,” implying that government can and should remove necessity from the human story.

Read more on Washington Post

Fired workers can collect unemployment, but the court says those who quit don’t get compensation unless they have a “necessitous and compelling” reason for leaving the job.

Read more on Seattle Times

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necessitatenecessitude