want
Americanverb (used with object)
-
wants,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wanted,
past participle, past
-
wanting
present participle
-
to feel a need or a desire for; wish for.
to want one's dinner; always wanting something new.
-
to wish, need, crave, demand, or desire (often followed by an infinitive).
I want to see you.
She wants to be notified.
-
to be without or be deficient in.
to want judgment; to want knowledge.
- Synonyms:
- need
-
to fall short by (a specified amount).
The sum collected wants but a few dollars of the desired amount.
-
to require or need.
The house wants painting.
verb (used without object)
-
wants,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wanted,
past participle, past
-
wanting
present participle
-
to feel inclined; wish; like (often followed byto ).
We can stay home if you want.
-
to be deficient by the absence of some part or thing, or to feel or have a need (sometimes followed byfor ).
He did not want for abilities.
-
to have need (usually followed byfor ).
If you want for anything, let him know.
-
to be in a state of destitution, need, or poverty.
She would never allow her parents to want.
-
to be lacking or absent, as a part or thing necessary to completeness.
All that wants is his signature.
noun
-
something wanted or needed; necessity.
My wants are few.
- Synonyms:
- desideratum
-
something desired, demanded, or required.
a person of childish, capricious wants.
-
absence or deficiency of something desirable or requisite; lack.
plants dying for want of rain.
- Synonyms:
- paucity, insufficiency, inadequacy, scarcity, dearth
-
the state of being without something desired or needed; need.
to be in want of an assistant.
-
the state of being without the necessaries of life; destitution; poverty.
a country where want is virtually unknown.
-
a sense of lack or need of something.
to feel a vague want.
idioms
verb
-
(tr) to feel a need or longing for
I want a new hat
-
(when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to wish, need, or desire (something or to do something)
he wants to go home
-
to be lacking or deficient (in something necessary or desirable)
the child wants for nothing
-
(tr) to feel the absence of
lying on the ground makes me want my bed
-
(tr) to fall short by (a specified amount)
-
(tr) to have need of or require (doing or being something)
your shoes want cleaning
-
(intr) to be destitute
-
(tr; often passive) to seek or request the presence of
you're wanted upstairs
-
(intr) to be absent
-
informal (tr; takes an infinitive) should or ought (to do something)
you don't want to go out so late
-
informal to wish to be included in a venture
-
informal to wish to be excluded from a venture
noun
-
the act or an instance of wanting
-
anything that is needed, desired, or lacked
to supply someone's wants
-
a lack, shortage, or absence
for want of common sense
-
the state of being in need; destitution
the state should help those in want
-
a sense of lack; craving
noun
Usage
What are other ways to say want? To want is to feel a need or a desire for something. How is want different from desire and wish? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wantsimple
-
wantssimple
-
have wantedperfect
-
has wantedperfect
-
am wantingprogressive
-
are wantingprogressive
-
is wantingprogressive
-
have been wantingperfect progressive
-
has been wantingperfect progressive
Past
-
wantedsimple
-
had wantedperfect
-
was wantingprogressive
-
were wantingprogressive
-
had been wantingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of want
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English wante, from Old Norse vanta “to lack”
Explanation
In all its forms, want has to do with the lack of having and the desire to have. You can want or desire something you’d like, or you can be in want of something you need. The word want goes back to the 12th century and the Old Norse language, where vanta meant "to be deficient," or “in want.” If someone keeps bugging you, you might lose patience and ask, "What do you want?" If you are seeking employment, check the "want ads" or look for signs saying "Help Wanted." If you are a "wanted criminal," you might have trouble getting hired.
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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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:
For a solid few hours, every other sentence between my roommate and I was “I want to throw up” and “Is this real?”
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
"I always do things that are tough because I genuinely want to learn," Kardashian says.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
“If we do this right, history won’t remember us simply because we were the first. History is going to remember us because we made a difference. We want California to work for everybody.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
"We seem to be getting everything we want," he told the Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
But I’m guessing he doesn’t want to hear that.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Back in Coventry, Dillan Patel is confident his AI work will continue to be valuable, and he wants to keep building on it.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
"He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar," Ossoff added.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
“If you see someone with a notebook or a laptop, that person wants to be left alone. If you see someone with a typewriter, there’s something happening here,” says the poet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
Mr. Vance says he wants the U.S. to attract exceptional talent like Mr. Musk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Arlo gets to play all the current hip-hop he wants, so long as it’s the clean version.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
We wanted to believe, but we had been here plenty of times before.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
Oppenheim, however, told Vulture last month that Evans seemed to initiate the scene: “It seems like he really had something he wanted to show to us and to the world.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
Last year Indiana offered to open its doors to the disaffected counties, and absorb all the Illinois residents who wanted to break away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
"That was something I wanted to happen from the very beginning, so I think it will be a very emotional moment - arriving in Cardiff on that final morning."
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Why he’d ruined it for me after all the things I did to help him get what he wanted.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
CEO Alex Karp in a note Monday credited the gains to businesses wanting more control over their AI use instead of relying on AI labs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Crook knew that he wanted the homunculi to be almost still, as if someone had fallen into icy water, their cold, wet clothes clinging to them, barely wanting to move.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
This is due to her wanting to spend as much time as possible in caring for her twin daughters, who suffer from a muscle-wasting condition, the paper reports.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Not wanting to put their customers at risk, they’d begun towing people’s cars from their homes to the shop, and driving them back once the repairs were complete.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
His other hand was out, wanting something from us.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
