necessitous

Adjective

necessitous (comparative more necessitous, superlative most necessitous)

1. (archaic) Needy, indigent, destitute, poor.
   • [W]ith what Face could Wretches who had ravaged and made so many Neceſſitous, look up for Relief; they had to that Moment lived in Defiance of the Power that now alone they muſt truſt for their Preſervation, […]1724, Charles Johnson [pseudonym], “Of Captain Bartho[lomew] Roberts, and His Crew”, in A General History of the Pyrates, […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T. Warner, […], →OCLC...
   • Thus I have laid before you some arguments, plain indeed, but I hope not nugatory, to enforce a cheerful and generous attention to institutions formed for the instruction and relief of necessitous children1793, Hugh Worthington, Jr., The Duty of Instructing and Relieving Necessitous Children., page 32
2. Lacking; required.
   • Ministers come down I can promise them plenty of entertainment by deputations waiting on them and reminding them of the fact that we are a live people and are anxious to have a portion of the necessitous things conferred on the district.1927, New Zealand Parliament, Parliamentary Debates - Volume 213, page 1049
   • “Transcriptional regulators of the diphtheria toxin repressor (DtxR) family control the expression of genes involved in the uptake of iron and manganese, which is not only necessitous nutrients but also was suggested to be essential for intracellular redox cycling of microorganisms.2012, Advances in Gram-Positive Cocci Research and Application, →ISBN
3. Necessary; unavoidable.
   • 6thly, That there shall be prayers twice a day at due times to be appointed by the schoolmaster (holidays and sickness, or any other needful and necessitous cause to be shewn to the contrary) and to be said by him in the school house adjoining the alms-houses; at which prayers, I ordain, that all...1809, Edward Pugh, London, David Hughson, page 353
   • Those are the necessitous things you must do to make the farm a going concern and make it attractive to the farmer to buy it.1940, United States Temporary National Economic Committee, Verbatim Record of the Proceedings of the Temporary National Economic Committtee