neediness

[ nee-dee-nis ]

/ ˈni di nɪs /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for neediness on Thesaurus.com

noun

a condition of want or need; poverty; indigence.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of neediness

First recorded in 1350–1400, neediness is from the Middle English word nedynes.See needy, -ness

Words nearby neediness

need, needed, needfire, needful, Needham, neediness, needle, needle bearing, needle biopsy, needlecord, needlecraft

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use neediness in a sentence

No longer just breaking stuff for no good reason, they were now pleading for our understanding—sometimes, as in Phillips’ Joker, with the cloying neediness of a thrift-store clown painting.
From Cruella to Maleficent to the Joker: Is It Time to Retire the Villain Origin Story?|Stephanie Zacharek|May 26, 2021|Time
During the exhausting 1992 campaign I was asked if Clinton got tired of the crowds: their neediness, their wide-eyed lunging.
Paul Begala on Why Bill Clinton’s Still Got the Magic|Paul Begala|October 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Each performance had its set of demands—a lightness in one, an unlikely neediness in another.
Kathleen Turner's New Broadway High|Kevin Sessums|April 17, 2011|DAILY BEAST
This emotional neediness was brilliantly parodied in the Austin Powers films with Dr. Evil.
Villains as Fashion Heroes|Sean Macaulay|July 8, 2010|DAILY BEAST

But in our day it is necessity, neediness, that prevails, and lends a degraded humanity under its iron yoke.
The Aesthetical Essays|Friedrich Schiller
After a short experience of three weeks Comte returned to neediness and contentment.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 3 of 3)|John Morley
But everywhere the ill-assorted marriage of pretentiousness and neediness was apparent.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment|Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for neediness

neediness

/ (ˈniːdɪnɪs) /

noun

the state of being needy; poverty

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

neediness

Origin of neediness

Words nearby neediness

Words related to neediness

How to use neediness in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for neediness