want
Usage
What are other ways to say want?
The verb want, usually colloquial in use, suggests a feeling of lack or need that imperatively demands fulfillment: People all over the world want peace. Wish implies the feeling of an impulse toward attainment or possession of something; the strength of the feeling may be of greater or lesser intensity: I wish I could go home. Desire, a more formal verb, suggests a strong wish: They desire liberation.
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.
See Examples For:
“I want to get paid to watch sports and that’s it,” he continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
"We want an industry run in the interests of people and the environment, with its income reinvested in the system rather than extracted from it."
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
I’ll make it on a weekend if I’m just chilling and want to watch Netflix all day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
"In the meantime, this model serves as proof-of-concept; with this technique, we can produce a very high-performance upconversion nanoparticle that could be customized to any molecule you might want to detect. That's something entirely new."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
“I understand, but you didn’t answer my question: Do you want to move out of Davey?”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Rangers look, at the moment, like a club that knows where it wants to go.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Wiles revealed that she doesn’t have “these seminal moments where you have to go in and tell the president what he wants to do is unconstitutional or will cost lives. I don’t have that.”
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
In practice, however, hardly anyone wants to use it.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
No one wants to waste the weekend haggling over $20.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
“In my experience,” he continues, “kids and parents get into arguments all the time. Even if he’s wrong, he is your dad. I’m sure he just wants what’s best for you.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
"I'm aware of mortality and I wanted to just put things down once and for all that were true," the historian and journalist explained.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
They then dissolved the powdered enamel in phosphoric acid, releasing carbon dioxide gas that contained the isotope bonds they wanted to study.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Bio Orto makes an organic butternut-squash cream sauce that I bought at Eataly for $18.49 and desperately wanted to find merely fine.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
Then after they finished removing the debris, the residents wanted it to be in the Palisades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
One day, he decided to become a knight, for he wanted to right all that was wrong in the world, and punish evil.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
But our relationship has not progressed toward marriage or engagement due to him wanting to be more financially stable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
One thing supporters were united on, though, was wanting to see overdue progress in Europe and a better product on the pitch.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The second issue, and perhaps the harder one to address, in their wanting more personal details from you.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
All conductors struggle with the contents of such inaugural bills, wanting them to shine a spotlight without seeming self-aggrandizing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
His other hand was out, wanting something from us.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Vocabulary lists containing want
"A Modest Proposal," Vocabulary from the satire
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Selection Vocabulary 2, Unit 2
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