Advertisement

View synonyms for need

need

[ need ]

noun

  1. a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation:

    There is no need for you to go there.

  2. a lack of something wanted or deemed necessary:

    to fulfill the needs of the assignment.

  3. urgent want, as of something requisite:

    He has no need of your charity.

    Synonyms: requirement

  4. necessity arising from the circumstances of a situation or case:

    There is no need to worry.

  5. a situation or time of difficulty; exigency:

    to help a friend in need;

    to be a friend in need.

    Synonyms: emergency

  6. a condition marked by the lack of something requisite:

    the need for leadership.

  7. destitution; extreme poverty:

    The family's need is acute.

    Synonyms: privation, penury, indigence, neediness

    Antonyms: wealth



verb (used with object)

  1. to have need of; require:

    to need money.

    Synonyms: lack, want

verb (used without object)

  1. to be under an obligation (used as an auxiliary, typically in an interrogative or in a negative statement, and followed by infinitive, in certain cases without to; in the 3d person singular the form is need, not needs ):

    He need not go.

  2. to be in need or want.
  3. to be necessary:

    There needs no apology.

need

/ niːd /

verb

  1. tr to be in want of

    to need money

  2. tr to require or be required of necessity (to be or do something); be obliged

    to need to do more work

  3. takes an infinitive without to used as an auxiliary in negative and interrogative sentences to express necessity or obligation, and does not add -s when used with he, she, it, and singular nouns

    need he go?

  4. archaic.
    intr to be essential or necessary to

    there needs no reason for this

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. the fact or an instance of feeling the lack of something

    he has need of a new coat

  2. a requirement

    the need for vengeance

  3. necessity or obligation resulting from some situation

    no need to be frightened

  4. distress or extremity

    a friend in need

  5. extreme poverty or destitution; penury
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Other Words From

  • needer noun
  • un·needed adjective
  • well-needed adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of need1

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun nede, Old English nēd ( West Saxon nīed ), cognate with German Not, Old Norse nauth, Gothic nauths
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of need1

Old English nēad, nied; related to Old Frisian nēd, Old Saxon nōd, Old High German nōt
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. if need be, should the necessity arise:

    If need be, I can type the letters myself.

More idioms and phrases containing need

In addition to the idiom beginning with need , also see cry for (crying need for). .
Discover More

Synonym Study

Need, necessity imply a want, a lack, or a demand, which must be filled. Need, a word of Old English origin, has connotations that make it strong in emotional appeal: the need to be appreciated. Necessity, a word of Latin origin, is more formal and impersonal or objective; though much stronger than need in expressing urgency or imperative demand, it is less effective in appealing to the emotions: Water is a necessity for living things.
Discover More

Example Sentences

Vosloo led the drafting of a new set of guidelines from Unicef designed to help governments and companies develop AI policies that consider children’s needs.

That raises the question of a marketer’s need for NBCU’s measurement program if it already has one in place.

From Digiday

The project will be the first in the county to recycle wastewater, providing more than 32 percent of the city’s needs, according to a Wednesday press release.

It seemed like there was no need for the justification because of the decree.

The ability to develop digital capabilities quickly will continue to be critical for meeting customer needs and ensuring survival for your organization.

Citizens, perhaps, need to feel like they can communicate something to science.

We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.

To do so is to deify a celebrity for being what we need them to be, while willfully ignoring who they really are.

Sadly, it appears the American press often doesn't need any outside help when it comes to censoring themselves.

The need for an Ebola vaccine in West Africa has never been greater.

What need to look to right or left when you are swallowing up free mile after mile of dizzying road?

You need but will, and it is done; but if you relax your efforts, you will be ruined; for ruin and recovery are both from within.

Honour the physician for the need thou hast of him: for the most High hath created him.

I presume the twenty-five or thirty miles at this end is unhealthy, even for natives, but it surely need not be so.

She did not need a great cook-book; She knew how much and what it took To make things good and sweet and light.

Advertisement

Discover More

When To Use

What are other ways to say need?

To need something is to have need of it. How does need compare to synonyms want, lack, and require? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


néeneeded