require

American  

[ri-kwahyuhr] / rɪˈkwaɪər /

verb (used with object)

required, requiring

1. to have need of; need.

   He requires medical care.

2. to call on authoritatively; order or enjoin to do something.

   to require an agent to account for money spent.

3. to ask for authoritatively or imperatively; demand.

   Antonyms:

   forgo

4. to impose need or occasion for; make necessary or indispensable.

   The work required infinite patience.

5. to call for or exact as obligatory; ordain.

   The law requires annual income-tax returns.

6. to place under an obligation or necessity.

   The situation requires me to take immediate action.

   Synonyms:

   necessitate, obligate

7. Chiefly British. to desire; wish to have.

   Will you require tea at four o'clock?

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verb (used without object)

required, requiring

1. to demand; impose obligation.

   to do as the law requires.

require British  

/ rɪˈkwaɪə /

verb

1. to have need of; depend upon; want

2. to impose as a necessity; make necessary

   this work requires precision

3. (also intr) to make formal request (for); insist upon or demand, esp as an obligation

4. to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; order or command

   to require someone to account for his actions

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Usage

What are other ways to say require? To require something is to have a need for it or to ask for it authoritatively. How does require compare to synonyms want, need, and lack? Find out on Thesaurus.com. 

Related Words

See demand.

Other Word Forms

• nonrequirable
  adjective
• prerequire
  verb (used with object)
• quasi-required
  adjective
• requirable
  adjective
• requirer
  noun
• unrequired
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of require

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English requiren, from Latin requīrere, equivalent to re- re- ( def. ) + -quīrere, combining form of quaerere “to seek, search for”; cf. quest ( def. )

Explanation

Require means to need. You require food, water, and shelter to live, but do you really require that new pair of high-fashion shoes? The verb require comes from Latin root words re-, meaning "repeatedly," and quaerere, meaning "to ask." The word lost the sense of asking and came to mean needing, demanding, or insisting upon something. The law requires that you attend school until you're sixteen; your parents probably require you to finish high school. If you're a waiter in a fancy restaurant and the food has been served, you might ask if your customers require anything else.

Example Sentences

A search of an address in nearby Speedwell, linked to Kelly, did not require any evacuations of surrounding properties in the area.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

The most advanced AI computing setups require more of the most advanced kind of memory chips available.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

That is far less energy than similar devices typically require.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

This is the one I come back to most often, mostly because it doesn’t require a plan — just ingredients that are already halfway to being forgotten.

From Salon • May 5, 2026

It didn’t require much thought and it was a task with a clear beginning and end.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• call for
• cause
• compel
• demand
• expect
• instruct
• involve
• obligate
• oblige
• order
• request
• take