Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun need

4 senses of need

Sense 1
need, demand -- (a condition requiring relief; "she satisfied his need for affection"; "God has no need of men to accomplish His work"; "there is a demand for jobs")
       => condition, status -- (a state at a particular time; "a condition (or state) of disrepair"; "the current status of the arms negotiations")

Sense 2
need, want -- (anything that is necessary but lacking; "he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs"; "I tried to supply his wants")
       => necessity, essential, requirement, requisite, necessary -- (anything indispensable; "food and shelter are necessities of life"; "the essentials of the good life"; "allow farmers to buy their requirements under favorable conditions"; "a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained")

Sense 3
motivation, motive, need -- (the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives")
       => psychological feature -- (a feature of the mental life of a living organism)

Sense 4
indigence, need, penury, pauperism, pauperization -- (a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the homeless")
       => poverty, poorness, impoverishment -- (the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions)

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb need

3 senses of need

Sense 1
necessitate, ask, postulate, need, require, take, involve, call for, demand -- (require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"; "This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent")

Sense 2
want, need, require -- (have need of; "This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner")
       => be -- (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer")

Sense 3
need -- (have or feel a need for; "always needing friends and money")