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Definitions

need

[need] / nid /
NOUN
want, requirement
Synonyms
STRONGEST
commitment demand obligation right urgency use wish
STRONG
charge committal compulsion desideratum devoir duty essential exigency extremity longing must occasion requisite weakness
WEAK
ought the urge
Antonyms
STRONG
nonessential
WEAK
comfort fortune have luxury plenty riches wealth
NOUN
poverty
Synonyms
STRONGEST
lack shortage want
STRONG
deprivation destitution distress extremity impecuniousness impoverishment inadequacy indigence insufficiency neediness paucity pennilessness penury poorness privation
Antonyms
STRONGEST
abundance enough plenty
STRONG
affluence sufficiency wealth
WEAK
comfort fortune have luxury riches
NOUN
emergency; pressing lack
Synonyms
STRONGEST
necessity obligation shortage urgency want
STRONG
deficiency exigency inadequacy insufficiency
Antonyms
STRONGEST
abundance
STRONG
adequacy enough plenty sufficiency
WEAK
comfort fortune have luxury riches wealth
VERB
want something
Synonyms
STRONGEST
call for demand desire lack require
STRONG
claim covet crave exact hanker hunger long lust miss necessitate pine thirst wish yearn
WEAK
be deficient be deprived be down and out be hard up be in need of be in want be inadequate be needy be poor be short be without die for do without drive for feel a dearth of feel the necessity for feel the pinch go hungry have occasion for have occasion to have use for hurt for suffer privation yen for
Antonyms
STRONGEST
have not want
STRONG
abjure despise dislike give hate
WEAK
do not want

Usage

What are other ways to say need? The verb need often suggests urgency, stressing the necessity of supplying what is lacking: to need an operation, better food, a match to light the fire. Require, which expresses necessity as strongly as need, occurs most frequently in serious or formal contexts: Your presence at the hearing is required. Successful experimentation requires careful attention to detail. Lack means to be without or to have less than a desirable quantity of something: to lack courage, sufficient money, enough members to make a quorum. 

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

So however we need to prepare for each other, however we need to match up, that’s what it’s going to take.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

With match play, players compete to win individual holes, so if you land in an unraked bunker, and need three strokes to get out of it, you simply lose that hole.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

Designers need to pivot: Difficulty and complexity are not the dirty words we thought they were.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026

He managed to get a replica of the 1960s cooker from the famous scene when Roy Scheider said the famous line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat".

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

“And I notified her father that I’d located her, and that she was safe, so I’m not sure why he felt the need to call you.”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.