Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use needy in a sentence

22 example sentences · adjective

Needy means in need; poor. Example: “Needy people want to give too, but have few material goods to offer.”

Examples of needy by meaning

adjectiveIn need; poor.

  • Needy people want to give too, but have few material goods to offer.
  • 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

adjectiveDesiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.

  • It's emotionally exhausting to be around her because she's so needy.

More sentences with needy

  • The school's cast iron policy on admissions fees left no leeway for needy students.From the entry cast iron
  • Kangaroos on the other hand become even more sooky (needy for attention), when denied time outside.2006, Lynda Staker, The Complete Guide to the Care of Macropods, page 189. From the entry sooky
  • Here, up in the north of China, is a great needy mission field.1902 March, “Gleanings from Our Post Bags”, in The Missionary Magazine, page TIEN-TSIN, CHINA. From the entry Tien-tsin
  • A Mother Teresa is not only offering her services, but also sacrificing her well-being and personal safety to help the needy.2016 May 6, Robert Sack, A Geographical Guide to the Real and the Good, Routledge, →ISBN, page 181. From the entry Mother Teresa
  • It was refreshing because it set the stage for women to be flawed, angry, strange, needy and otherwise nonadorable.2016, Rebecca Traister, All the Single Ladies, page 94. From the entry nonadorable
  • Needy, venal and entirely unencumbered with self-knowledge or native wit, the Duchess is yet again the architect of her own misfortune.2011 March 9, Judith Woods, “The Royal Family: Put a royal sock in it, Sarah”, in telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 04 Apr 2011. From the entry native wit
  • It's death to look too eager, too needy, too smiley.2009, Julie Oliver, I've Been 16 for 34 Years, page 74. From the entry geekster
  • Sophie was the needier of our two mutts―mother and son golden retrievers we'd brought with us from Connecticut.2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.25. From the entry needier
  • As a result, compassion is left at the churchhouse door, and the truly needy must look elsewhere for help.2007 November 1, “Missing Compassion”, in New York Times. From the entry churchhouse
  • She would've felt real minor taking all his cash and spending it on herself, knowing how needy his babies were.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 128. From the entry minor
  • Where the Henley heroine comes across as an awkward, desperate, emotionally battered womanchild, the knockoff's simply dumb, needy, and infantile.1988 February 12, Anthony Adler, “Send in the Hicks”, in Chicago Reader. From the entry womanchild
  • With much of my attention on the needy one-year-old, I continued to ignore Svea's request to find one of her doll's small red-rubber shoes.2018, Justin Lind-Ayres, Is That Poop on My Arm? Parenting While Christian, Fortress Press, →ISBN, pages 14–15. From the entry nighttime diaper
  • CBS News used emotion-charged tales to make the case that some of the nation's truly needy are falling through the social safety net.1982 May 3, “The White House vs. CBS”, in Time. From the entry social safety net
  • Among their other projects are camperships to the Salvation Army and the YMCA, and Thanksgiving and Christmas gift certificates for the needy.1975 November 11, “Fashions, Food And Cards”, in Women Morning Journal, Daytona Beach Morning Journal, page 3A. From the entry diaper bank
  • Don’t abuse a laborer who is destitute and needy, whether he is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner living in your land and in your city.2018, “Deuteronomy 24”, in Eugene H. Peterson, transl., The Message Deluxe Gift Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, →ISBN, page 196. From the entry hand to mouth
  • JD went from being a little emotionally needy to a whiny man-child and Elliot became every negative stereotype about women instead of her usual neurotic but lovable self.2009 June 7, tmc1982 [username], “Seasonal Rot – Television Tropes & Idioms”, in rec.arts.tv (Usenet). From the entry flanderization
  • We outreach for our own sake and need — not looking for the neediest recipient but instead searching for the guilt-resolve that fits best within our schedule.2005, Mark Steele, Flashbang: How I Got Over Myself. From the entry unreach
  • Paul Canning's performance as Julian gives the character an emotional center that is not in the script: He is vulnerable without being pathological, needy without being pathetic.1981 April 18, Michael Bronski, “Good Production -- Bad Play”, in Gay Community News, page 10. From the entry pathological
  • A “joy car” is being used by the Church Extension Society of Rochester, to bring happiness to hundreds of aged persons, orphans and needy children and their parents.1922, Unattributed, Motor Age, page 35. From the entry joy car

Meaning of needy

  1. adjective In need; poor.
  2. adjective Desiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.
  3. adjective Needful; necessary.

Full definition of needy

Questions about needy in a sentence

How do you use needy in a sentence?
Needy is used as an adjective. For example: “Needy people want to give too, but have few material goods to offer.”
What is a short sentence with needy?
“It's death to look too eager, too needy, too smiley.”
What does needy mean?
Needy means in need; poor.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: needy (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use needy in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/needy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.