need

Fetched 2026-10-27 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Noun

1. A requirement for something; something needed.
   • There's no need to speculate; we can easily find out for sure.
   • The retreat filled his need for solitude.
   • She grew irritated with his constant need for attention.
   • Our instant needs are not being met.
   • I've always tried to have few needs beyond food, clothing and shelter.
2. A desire or craving for the satisfaction of a requirement perceived as essential or primal.
3. Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.

Verb

1. To have an absolute requirement for.
   • Living things need water to survive.
   • You do not always need to go to the library to study. You may use the Internet.
   • She needed convincing that I was what she really needed.
2. To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.
   • After ten days of hiking, I needed a shower and a shave.
3. To be obliged or required (to do something).
   • I need not go if I don't want to, need I?
   • I was wondering if I need fill in more forms. - No, that's the only one you need fill out.
   • I need never have packed my set of sunglasses - it rained all day every day.
4. To be required; to be necessary.
5. To be necessary (to someone).

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.