want

Examples

• All

• The old lady must have guessed about my wanting to be popular, I reasoned.

  Fiction book (2001)

• All babies cry: this is their main means of communicating their wants and needs, emotions, feelings, and sensations.

  Academic text (2014)

• Still working on our wants.

  The Available Wife (2020)

• The reality of it is that human needs and wants are infinite.

• We have our own wants and desires.

  Julie Darling (1983)

• All good invention begins with understanding the needs and wants of the customer.

  Academic text (2009)

• You answered a battery of questions designed to express your wants, needs, hopes and desires.

  The Accountant² (2025)

• Have you heard the saying, "a man's greatest weakness is tied to his strongest want"?

  Fortress: Sniper's Eye (2022)

• The researchers found many cans unopened or mangled for want of an opener.

  Academic text (2009)

• Many people struggle with their personal wants and needs in a constantly changing world.

Synonyms

D

desire

vswant

∞ 1.6

A strong wish to have or experience something

is a more general, less forceful internal feeling

W

wish

vswant

474 1.0

A hope for something to happen or be true

is the internal feeling of need or longing rather than a hope

C

craving

vswant

78 3.7

A very strong desire for things like food or cigarettes

is milder and lacks that urgent intensity

L

longing

vswant

69 4.2

A strong wish for someone or something you cannot have

is the general inner feeling without the unreachable focus

I

itch

vswant

• Informal

31 4.2

A strong desire to do or have something

is the general internal state without the restless quality

H

hankering

vswant

11 6.6

A strong wish to have or do something

is a broader internal feeling without nostalgic tone

Y

yearning

vswant

8 5.5

A strong, lasting wish for something you want but cannot get

is a shorter or less persistent internal urge

H

hungriness

vswant

5.9

A strong desire to get or achieve something

is mainly emotional and not necessarily felt physically

A

appetence

vswant

9.9

A strong desire to have or do something

is the everyday internal feeling without formal or learned tone

A

appetition

vswant

• Archaic

9.9

A strong wish to have or achieve something

is the common personal feeling rather than an abstract concept

T

thirstiness

vswant

3.5

A strong desire for things like knowledge or success

is the general inner wanting not limited to intangibles

Antonyms

I

indifference

71 4.6

Lack of interest or concern about something

D

disinterest

5 5.8

Not feeling interested in something, like a talk or task

Idioms

W

to want for nothing

5 4.2

To have everything you need and wish for

W

waste not, want not

1 6.5

Use things carefully so you do not run out later

Compounds

W

want ad

• US

9 2.9

An ad in a newspaper asking for things like jobs or items

How Strong

yearning

8 5.5

desire

∞ 1.6

want

27 1.0

wish

474 1.0

interest

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology