Meaning

noun needy people collectively

adjective poor enough to need help from others

adjective demanding or needing attention, affection, or reassurance to an excessive degree

originFrom 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…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0