Synonyms of need

need 1 of 2

verb

1

as in to require

to have as a requirement

a national crisis that needs a strong leader to solve it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• require
• want
• take
• demand
• necessitate
• involve
• challenge
• claim
• call for
• warrant
• ask
• entail
• bear
• beg
• lack
• insist
• cry (for)
• hurt (for)
• stipulate
• exact
• quest
• enjoin
• clamor (for)
• press
• command

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• have
• hold
• possess
• own

2

as in to must

to be under necessity or obligation to

you need not stand when she enters the room

Synonyms & Similar Words

• must
• should
• shall
• have (to)
• will
• ought (to)

need

2 of 2

noun

ˈnēd 

1

as in lack

a state of being without something necessary, desirable, or useful

when it came time to wrap the presents, he found he was in need of adhesive tape

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lack
• needfulness
• absence
• shortage
• want
• deficiency
• requirement
• deficit
• necessity
• scarcity
• insufficiency
• paucity
• defect
• essential
• inadequacy
• demand
• poverty
• requisite
• minus
• deprivation
• dearth
• privation
• scantiness
• scarceness
• skimpiness
• meagerness
• famishment

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• supply
• sufficiency
• adequacy
• fund
• stock
• enough
• plenty
• pool
• excess
• surplus
• fill
• stockpile
• surfeit
• overabundance
• oversupply
• hoard

2

as in must

something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable

got a job that barely provided for his basic needs

Synonyms & Similar Words

• must
• requirement
• necessity
• necessary
• essential
• requisite
• demand
• needful
• must-have
• sine qua non
• condition
• prerequisite
• advantage
• wish
• precondition
• plus
• desideratum
• edge
• desideration

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• extra
• surplus
• comfort
• luxury
• nonessential
• nonnecessity
• indulgence
• extravagance
• frill
• surplusage
• superfluity
• amenity

3

as in obligation

something one must do because of prior agreement

no need to apologize

Synonyms & Similar Words

• obligation
• responsibility
• duty
• promise
• commitment
• vow
• do
• burden
• requirement
• imperative
• office
• pledge
• constraint
• must
• charge
• pact
• devoir
• trust
• incumbency
• payment
• setup
• contract
• word
• oath
• arrangement
• compulsion
• tribute
• debt
• compact
• covenant
• restraint
• force
• reservation
• coercion
• prearrangement
• duress
• troth
• appointment
• engagement
• onus

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stay
• relief
• grace
• ease
• release
• exemption
• discharge
• waiver
• choice
• option
• postponement
• alternative
• preference
• selection
• loophole
• pick

4

as in poverty

the state of lacking sufficient money or material possessions

donating money to help those in need

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poverty
• necessity
• misery
• want
• neediness
• impoverishment
• poorness
• pauperism
• penury
• indigence
• beggary
• destitution
• deprivation
• impecuniousness
• destituteness
• impecuniosity
• emergency
• bankruptcy
• penuriousness
• exigency
• woe
• gutter
• rainy day
• privation
• wretchedness
• insolvency
• pinching
• austerity
• belt-tightening
• straitening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• wealth
• richness
• affluence
• opulence
• luxury
• prosperity
• wealthiness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of need

Verb

Disability rights advocates fear the changes to special education oversight weaken the federal safety net for autistic students and others with disabilities, making these systems more confusing when families need help enforcing students' rights. — Claire Sibonney, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026

Students from elsewhere will need to check if the programs meet their state requirements, said Pam Downing, the school's director of communications, in an email. — ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026

Noun

When a buyback operation retires $4 billion of 30-year bonds, that borrowing need grows by $4 billion, and with coupon auction sizes frozen, the marginal instrument is the bill. — James Broughel, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026

In addition, the short-half-life isotopes tend to get discarded by the process, and there's also the need to keep the streams of pure plutonium from concentrating, or things could get very nasty. — David Szondy august 22, New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2026