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Need synonyms

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pennilessness
The state or quality of being penniless.
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  1. The state or quality of being penniless.
requirement
Something obligatory; a prerequisite.
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  1. Something obligatory; a prerequisite.
  2. Something required; something obligatory or demanded, as a condition
  3. Something needed; necessity; need
indigence
The condition of being indigent
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  1. The condition of being indigent
  2. The state of being poor; poverty.
obligation
(--- Law) A document in which a person binds himself or herself to undertake or refrain from doing a particular act.
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  1. (--- Law) A document in which a person binds himself or herself to undertake or refrain from doing a particular act.
  2. (Law) An agreement or duty by which one person (the obligor) is legally bound to make payment or perform services for the benefit of another (the obligee)
  3. A binding, formal arrangement or an agreement to a liability to pay a specified amount or to do a certain thing for a person or group of persons. See also duty and liability.
penury
Extreme want or poverty; destitution.
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  1. Extreme want or poverty; destitution.
  2. Lack of money, property, or necessities; extreme poverty; destitution
insufficiency
Lack of sufficiency; deficiency; inadequacy
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  1. Lack of sufficiency; deficiency; inadequacy
  2. Inability or failure of an organ or tissue to perform its normal function
  3. Inadequate supply:
shortage
Not enough, not sufficient.
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  1. Not enough, not sufficient.
  2. A deficiency in the quantity or amount needed or expected, or the extent of this; deficit
  3. A lack or deficiency.
inadequacy
An instance of being inadequate; a failing or lack.
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  1. An instance of being inadequate; a failing or lack.
  2. A lack of competence or ability.
  3. A shortage of required material.
necessity
Something that cannot be done without; necessary thing
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  1. Something that cannot be done without; necessary thing
  2. The state or fact of being in need.
  3. (Now Rare) Want; poverty
requisite
Something requisite
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  1. Something requisite
  2. Something that is indispensable; a requirement:
compulsion
That which compels; driving force
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  1. That which compels; driving force
  2. (Psychol.) An irresistible, repeated, irrational impulse to perform some act
  3. (Psychiatry) An act or ritual that a person feels compelled to perform repeatedly, often to reduce the distress caused by an obsession.
exigency
A situation calling for immediate action or attention
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  1. A situation calling for immediate action or attention
  2. A pressing or urgent situation:
  3. An urgent requirement; a pressing need:
call
A demand for the payment of money or the delivery of a security, such as a bond, by someone entitled to make such a demand. See also puts and calls.
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  1. A demand for the payment of money or the delivery of a security, such as a bond, by someone entitled to make such a demand. See also puts and calls.
  2. A decision
  3. Need or occasion:
lack
To be wanting or missing; show a deficiency
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  1. To be wanting or missing; show a deficiency
  2. To be missing or deficient:
  3. (Obs.) To need; require
require
To call for as necessary or appropriate
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  1. To call for as necessary or appropriate
  2. To be in need of; need
  3. To have as a requisite or necessity; need or depend on:
condition
A future and uncertain event, fact, or circumstance whose existence or occurrence is necessary for the existence or determining the extent of an obligation or liability. See also estate and fee simple.
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  1. A future and uncertain event, fact, or circumstance whose existence or occurrence is necessary for the existence or determining the extent of an obligation or liability. See also estate and fee simple.
  2. (Law) A provision making the effect of a legal instrument contingent on the occurrence of an uncertain future event.
  3. One that is indispensable to the appearance or occurrence of another; a prerequisite:
demand
Something demanded:
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  1. Something demanded:
  2. (Econ.) The desire for a commodity together with ability to pay for it; also, the amount people are ready and able to buy at a certain price
  3. An urgent requirement or need:
want
Something desired:
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  1. Something desired:
  2. The state or fact of lacking, or having too little of, something needed or desired; scarcity; shortage; lack
  3. Pressing need; destitution:
essential
Something necessary or fundamental; indispensable, inherent, or basic feature or principle
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  1. Something necessary or fundamental; indispensable, inherent, or basic feature or principle
necessary
Something indispensable.
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  1. Something indispensable.
  2. A necessary thing; thing essential to life, some purpose, etc.
  3. (Law) Those things essential to maintaining a dependent or incompetent in comfort and well-being
urgency
Something urgent
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  1. Something urgent
  2. The quality or condition of being urgent; pressing importance:
  3. The quality or state of being urgent; need for action, haste, etc.; stress or pressure, as of necessity
desideratum
Something considered necessary or highly desirable.
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  1. Something considered necessary or highly desirable.
must
The unfermented or fermenting juice expressed from fruit, especially grapes.
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  1. The unfermented or fermenting juice expressed from fruit, especially grapes.
  2. A state of frenzy in animals, esp. in the male elephant, usually associated with sexual heat
  3. Something that is absolutely required or indispensable:
miss
To fail to meet, reach, attain, catch, accomplish, see, hear, perceive, understand, etc.
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  1. To fail to meet, reach, attain, catch, accomplish, see, hear, perceive, understand, etc.
  2. To be too late for or fail to meet (a train, for example).
  3. (Archaic) To fail to obtain, receive, etc.
do-without
To manage despite the lack of something.
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  1. To manage despite the lack of something.
  2. Used other than as an idiom: see do,‎ without.
feel-the-pinch
(Idiomatic, informal) To suffer significant financial pressure.
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  1. (Idiomatic, informal) To suffer significant financial pressure.
demand
To require as useful, just, proper, or necessary; call for:
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  1. To require as useful, just, proper, or necessary; call for:
  2. To claim as just or due:
  3. To ask for urgently or peremptorily:
necessitate
To make (something) necessary or unavoidable; involve or imply as a necessary condition, outcome, etc.
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  1. To make (something) necessary or unavoidable; involve or imply as a necessary condition, outcome, etc.
  2. (Now Rare) To compel; require; force
oblige
To bind someone by performing a service for that person.
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  1. To bind someone by performing a service for that person.
  2. To compel by moral, legal, or physical force; constrain
  3. To compel or require (someone) to do something, as by circumstance or legality:
exigency
Pressing needs; demands; requirements
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  1. Pressing needs; demands; requirements
  2. A situation calling for immediate action or attention
  3. A pressing or urgent situation:
necessity
Something that cannot be done without; necessary thing
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  1. Something that cannot be done without; necessary thing
  2. The compulsion or constraint of man-made circumstances, habit, custom, law, etc.; logical or moral conditions making certain actions inevitable or obligatory
  3. The power of natural law that cannot be other than it is; natural causation; physical compulsion placed on man by nature; fate
essential
Something necessary or fundamental; indispensable, inherent, or basic feature or principle
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  1. Something necessary or fundamental; indispensable, inherent, or basic feature or principle
must
The unfermented or fermenting juice expressed from fruit, especially grapes.
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  1. The unfermented or fermenting juice expressed from fruit, especially grapes.
  2. A state of frenzy in animals, esp. in the male elephant, usually associated with sexual heat
  3. Something that is absolutely required or indispensable:
necessity
Something that cannot be done without; necessary thing
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  1. Something that cannot be done without; necessary thing
  2. The power of natural law that cannot be other than it is; natural causation; physical compulsion placed on man by nature; fate
  3. The compulsion or constraint of man-made circumstances, habit, custom, law, etc.; logical or moral conditions making certain actions inevitable or obligatory
precondition
A requirement which must be satisfied before taking a course of action.
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  1. A requirement which must be satisfied before taking a course of action.
  2. A condition that must exist or be established before something can occur or be considered; a prerequisite.
prerequisite
Something that is prerequisite, as a course that is required prior to taking an advanced course.
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  1. Something that is prerequisite, as a course that is required prior to taking an advanced course.
  2. Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
  3. In education, a course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started. May be colloquially referred to as a prereq.
requirement
Something required; something obligatory or demanded, as a condition
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  1. Something required; something obligatory or demanded, as a condition
  2. The act or an instance of requiring
  3. Something needed; necessity; need
requisite
Something requisite
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  1. Something requisite
  2. Something that is indispensable; a requirement:
sine qua non
Without which not. Something that is indispensable and upon which something else relies. Without which not. Something that is indispensable and upon which something else relies.
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  1. Without which not. Something that is indispensable and upon which something else relies. Without which not. Something that is indispensable and upon which something else relies.
  2. An essential condition, qualification, etc.; indispensable thing; absolute prerequisite
  3. An essential element or condition:
demand
Something demanded:
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  1. Something demanded:
  2. (Econ.) The desire for a commodity together with ability to pay for it; also, the amount people are ready and able to buy at a certain price
  3. An urgent requirement or need:
exigency
A situation calling for immediate action or attention
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  1. A situation calling for immediate action or attention
  2. A pressing or urgent situation:
  3. An urgent requirement; a pressing need:
want
Something desired:
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  1. Something desired:
  2. A wish or desire for something; craving
  3. A personification of want.
burden
A duty, obligation, or responsibility.
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  1. A duty, obligation, or responsibility.
  2. In property law, anything that encumbers or restrict the use or value of land, such as an easement, restrictive covenant, or zoning ordinance. The burden indefinitely binds the current and all future owners until it is extinguished, so it is the land, and the landowner, that is burdened by the encumbrance or restriction. See estate.
  3. The weight of the cargo carried by a vessel at one time.
charge
A quantity of explosive to be set off at one time.
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  1. A quantity of explosive to be set off at one time.
  2. The departure from electrical neutrality at a point, or in a region, as by the accumulation, or deficit, of electrical particles: more electrons than normal produce a negative charge; fewer, a positive charge
  3. A fundamental property of the elementary particles of which matter is made that gives rise to attractive and repulsive forces. There are two kinds of charge: color charge and electric charge.
commitment
Official consignment by court order of a person as to prison or a mental hospital
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  1. Official consignment by court order of a person as to prison or a mental hospital
  2. The state of being emotionally or intellectually devoted, as to a belief, a course of action, or another person:
  3. An order, especially one from a court, directing that a person be taken to and placed in the care or custody of a hospital, mental health facility, prison, or similar institution.
duty
Required action or service:
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  1. Required action or service:
  2. An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion:
  3. A legally-defined responsibility to perform certain acts or meet certain standards of performance; an essential element of proof in a tort action is that the defendant had a duty to act in a certain manner, such as the duty to use due care in the operation of a motor vehicle. Duties may be mandated by law, such as the duty to pay taxes, or may be voluntary, such as those assumed under a contract. A legally-defined responsibility to perform certain acts or meet certain standards of performance; an essential element of proof in a tort action is that the defendant had a duty to act in a certain manner, such as the duty to use due care in the operation of a motor vehicle. Duties may be mandated by law, such as the duty to pay taxes, or may be voluntary, such as those assumed under a contract.
imperative
A verb form of the imperative mood.
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  1. A verb form of the imperative mood.
  2. A binding or compelling rule, duty, requirement, etc.
  3. A rule, principle, or need that requires or compels certain action:
must
The unfermented or fermenting juice expressed from fruit, especially grapes.
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  1. The unfermented or fermenting juice expressed from fruit, especially grapes.
  2. A state of frenzy in animals, esp. in the male elephant, usually associated with sexual heat
  3. Something that is absolutely required or indispensable:
obligation
A moral or legal duty to perform or to not perform some action.
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  1. A moral or legal duty to perform or to not perform some action.
  2. The constraining power of a promise, contract, law, or sense of duty:
  3. The state, fact, or feeling of being indebted to another for a special service or favor received:
responsibility
Condition, quality, fact, or instance of being responsible; obligation, accountability, dependability, etc.
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  1. Condition, quality, fact, or instance of being responsible; obligation, accountability, dependability, etc.
  2. (Military) The obligation for the proper custody, care, and safekeeping of property or funds entrusted to the possession or supervision of an individual. (JP 1-02 Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms).
  3. (Military) The obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion. With responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success. (JP 1-02 Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms).
beggary
Extreme poverty
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  1. Extreme poverty
  2. The state or condition of being a beggar.
  3. Beggars considered as a group.
destitution
The state of being destitute; esp., abject poverty
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  1. The state of being destitute; esp., abject poverty
  2. A deprivation or lack; a deficiency.
  3. Extreme want of resources or the means of subsistence; complete poverty.
impecuniousness
The property of being impecunious.
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  1. The property of being impecunious.
impoverishment
The state of being impoverished.
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  1. The state of being impoverished.
  2. The action of impoverishing someone.
indigence
The state of being poor; poverty.
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  1. The state of being poor; poverty.
  2. The condition of being indigent
neediness
The state of being needy
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  1. The state of being needy
  2. The characteristic of being needy.
pennilessness
The state or quality of being penniless.
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  1. The state or quality of being penniless.
penuriousness
The quality of being penurious.
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  1. The quality of being penurious.
penury
Lack of money, property, or necessities; extreme poverty; destitution
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  1. Lack of money, property, or necessities; extreme poverty; destitution
  2. Extreme want or poverty; destitution.
poverty
Deficiency in necessary properties or desirable qualities, or in a specific quality, etc.; inadequacy
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  1. Deficiency in necessary properties or desirable qualities, or in a specific quality, etc.; inadequacy
  2. Renunciation made by a member of a religious order of the right to own property.
  3. The condition or quality of being poor; indigence; need
privation
Lack of the basic necessities or comforts of life:
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  1. Lack of the basic necessities or comforts of life:
  2. Lack of the ordinary necessities of life
  3. The condition of being without a specified quality or attribute:
want
Something desired:
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  1. Something desired:
  2. A wish or desire for something; craving
  3. A personification of want.
must
To be required or obliged to go:
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  1. To be required or obliged to go:
  2. Used elliptically in the same functions as must
  3. To be determined to; have as a fixed resolve:
lack
To be missing or deficient:
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  1. To be missing or deficient:
  2. To be wanting or missing; show a deficiency
  3. (Obs.) To need; require
require
(Archaic) To ask for; request
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  1. (Archaic) To ask for; request
  2. To have as a requisite or necessity; need or depend on:
  3. To be in need of; need
want
To wish to see or speak with (someone)
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  1. To wish to see or speak with (someone)
  2. To have a need or lack
  3. To be inclined or desirous; wish:

Synonym Study

  • Requisite applies to something that is indispensable to a particular end or purpose a sense of rhythm is a requisite in a dancer
  • Exigency refers to a necessity created by some emergency, crisis, or compelling circumstances the exigencies created by the flood
  • Necessity , a more formal word, suggests an imperative need for something indispensable but lacks the emotional connotations of needthey are in need of food, food is a necessity for all living things
  • Need refers to a pressing requirement of something essential or desirable that is lacking
Find another word for need. In this page you can discover 117 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for need, like: pennilessness, requirement, indigence, obligation, sine qua non (Latin), penury, insufficiency, shortage, inadequacy, necessity and requisite.

Sentence Examples

  • He did not need anything of that kind.

  • There was no need to rush.

  • You will need a sitter for the party anyway.

  • Still, a person didn't need to say it to feel it.

  • I am sorry, for I need you.

More sentences →

Words near need in the Thesaurus