needy
n.n. wanting too much attention, love, or support from other people. It describes someone who feels they cannot be happy or safe without constant help from others.
n. requiring an excessive amount of emotional support, attention, or reassurance from others. Often carries a negative connotation of being emotionally demanding or insecure.
He is very needy and calls his friends every hour.
The new puppy is quite needy and follows me into every room of the house.
While some people appreciate being wanted, others find it exhausting to maintain a relationship with a partner who is constantly needy and requires daily validation of their worth.
From 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 Frisian nöödich (“necessary, needful”), West Frisian nedich (“needful, needed”), Dutch nodig (“necessary”), Middle Low German nōdich (“necessary, urgent, by requirement”), German nötig (“necessary, needful”), Danish nødig (“necessary”), Swedish nödig (“necessary”), Icelandic nauðugur (“constrained”).
Typically used as a predicative adjective following a linking verb like 'be' or 'become'.