US /nəˈsɛsətəs/ UK /nɪˈsɛsɪtəs/
adj

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    lacking the means of subsistence; needy or poverty-stricken

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

Thesaurus

Synonyms
Opposites
Word family
Derived forms necessitouslynecessitousness

Etymology

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

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