necessitous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /nəˈsɛsətəs/ UK /nɪˈsɛsɪtəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
lacking the means of subsistence; needy or poverty-stricken

The charity was founded to relieve necessitous families in the parish.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · lacking the means of... needy destitute impoverished indigent poor penniless impecunious

Opposites

affluent wealthy prosperouswell-off

Word family

Derived forms necessitouslynecessitousness

Related forms necessity necessitate necessary

Etymology

From necessity (from Latin necessitas, 'necessity, need', from necesse, 'unavoidable') plus the suffix -ous, on the model of French necessiteux.

necessitas Latin necesse Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# necessitous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /nəˈsɛsətəs/
**IPA (UK):** /nɪˈsɛsɪtəs/

## Meanings
1. lacking the means of subsistence; needy or poverty-stricken

## Examples
- The charity was founded to relieve necessitous families in the parish.

## Synonyms
- needy
- destitute
- impoverished
- indigent
- poor
- penniless
- impecunious

## Antonyms
- affluent
- wealthy
- prosperous
- well-off

## Derived Forms
- necessitously
- necessitousness

## Related Forms
- necessity
- necessitate
- necessary

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: necessitas
- Root: necesse

## Etymology
From necessity (from Latin necessitas, 'necessity, need', from necesse, 'unavoidable') plus the suffix -ous, on the model of French necessiteux.

## AI Etymology
Necessitous comes from necessity (from Latin necessitas, 'necessity, need', from necesse, 'unavoidable') plus the suffix -ous, on the model of French necessiteux. The etymological trail includes Latin necessitas, Latin necesse. The same word family includes necessitously, necessitousness, necessity, necessitate, necessary. Its current adjective use means "lacking the means of subsistence; needy or poverty-stricken".

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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