Difference Wiki

Need vs. Want

Need and want are two different terms with different use and different meanings. The things that are necessary and without them your survival is in danger are your needs. The things for whom you have the desire to attain for your comfort and on the basis of your liking are your wants. In some cases your need and want may be the same.

Key Differences

Clothes are the need to cover the body but wish to wear the jeans pent is your want.
Need is something that you must have to for your survival while want is something that is your wish to have and is not necessary.
Shelter is the need but wish to live in palace is a want.
Harlon Moss
Sep 04, 2015
Car is a need for Mercedes is a want.
Harlon Moss
Sep 04, 2015
Want is something you may wish to have but need is compulsory to have and you also have a wish to meet your need.
Food is a need but your wish to eat pizza in food is your want.
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Education is a need but education is a well known institute is a want.
Samantha Walker
Sep 04, 2015
Mobile phone is a need but "Apple Phone" is a want.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 04, 2015

Need and Want Definitions

Need

A condition or situation in which something must be supplied in order for a certain condition to be maintained or a desired state to be achieved
Crops in need of water.
A child's need for affection.

Want

To have a strong feeling to have (something); wish (to possess or do something); desire greatly
She wants a glass of water. They want to leave.

Need

Something required or wanted; a requisite
"Those of us who led the charge for these women's issues ... shared a common vision in the needs of women" (Olympia Snowe).

Want

To desire (someone to do something)
I want you to clean your room.
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Need

Necessity; obligation
There is no need for you to go.

Want

To request the presence or assistance of
You are wanted by your office.

Need

A condition of poverty or misfortune
The family is in dire need.

Want

To seek with intent to capture
The fugitive is wanted by the police.

Need

To be under the necessity of or the obligation to
They need not come. You needn't be concerned.

Want

To have an inclination toward; like
Say what you want, but be tactful.
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Need

To have need of; require
The family needs money. We need to get some more paint.

Want

(Informal) To be obliged (to do something)
You want to be careful on the ice.

Need

To have an obligation (to do something)
You need to clean up your room.

Want

To be in need of; require
"'Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter" (Lewis Carroll).

Need

To be subject (to an action) by obligation
Bags need to be stowed underneath the seat in front of you.

Want

To be without; lack.

Need

To want to be subject to
We don't need another lecture on the subject.

Want

To be inclined or desirous; wish
Call me daily if you want.

Need

To be in need or want.

Want

The condition or quality of lacking something usual or necessary
Stayed home for want of anything better to do.

Need

To be necessary.

Want

Pressing need; destitution
Lives in want.

Need

A requirement for something; something needed.
There's no need to speculate; we can easily find out for sure.
She grew irritated with his constant need for attention.
Our needs are not being met.
I've always tried to have few needs beyond food, clothing and shelter.

Want

Something desired
A person of few wants and needs.

Need

Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.

Want

A defect of character; a fault.

Need

(transitive) To have an absolute requirement for.
Living things need water to survive.

Want

(transitive) To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave or demand.
What do you want to eat?
I want you to leave.
Never wanted to go back to live with my mother.

Need

(transitive) To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.
After ten days of hiking, I needed a shower and a shave.

Want

(by extension) To make it easy or tempting to do something undesirable, or to make it hard or challenging to refrain from doing it.
The game developers of Candy Crush want you to waste large, copious amounts of your money on in-game purchases to buy boosters and lives.
Depression wants you to feel like the world is dark and that you are not worthy of happiness. The first step to making your life better from this day forward is to stop believing these lies.

Need

(modal verb) To be obliged or required (to do something).
You need not go if you don't want to.

Want

To wish, desire, or demand to see, have the presence of or do business with.
Ma’am, you are exactly the professional we want for this job.
Danish police want him for embezzlement.

Need

(intransitive) To be required; to be necessary.

Want

(intransitive) To desire (to experience desire); to wish.
You can leave if you want.

Need

To be necessary (to someone).

Want

To lack and be in need of or require (something, such as a noun or verbal noun).
That chair wants fixing.

Need

A state that requires supply or relief; pressing occasion for something; necessity; urgent want.
And the city had no need of the sun.
I have no need to beg.
Be governed by your needs, not by your fancy.

Want

To have occasion for (something requisite or useful); to require or need.

Need

Want of the means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.
Famine is in thy cheeks;Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes.

Want

To be lacking or deficient or absent.
There was something wanting in the play.

Need

That which is needful; anything necessary to be done; (pl.) necessary things; business.

Want

To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
The paupers desperately want.

Need

Situation of need; peril; danger.

Want

To lack and be without, to not have (something).
She wanted anything she needed.

Need

To be in want of; to have cause or occasion for; to lack; to require, as supply or relief.
Other creatures all day longRove idle, unemployed, and less need rest.

Want

To lack and (be able to) do without.

Need

To be wanted; to be necessary.
When we have done it, we have done all that is in our power, and all that needs.

Want

(countable) A desire, wish, longing.

Need

Of necessity. See Needs.

Want

Lack, absence, deficiency.
A want of sense.

Need

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

Want

(uncountable) Poverty.

Need

Anything that is necessary but lacking;
He had sufficient means to meet his simple needs
I tried to supply his wants

Want

Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt.

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

Want

A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.

Need

A state of extreme poverty or destitution;
Their indigence appalled him
A general state of need exists among the homeless

Want

(dialectal) A mole (Talpa europea).

Need

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 postulates a patient's consent

Want

The state of not having; the condition of being without anything; absence or scarcity of what is needed or desired; deficiency; lack; as, a want of power or knowledge for any purpose; want of food and clothing.
And me, his parent, would full soon devourFor want of other prey.
From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we often feel wants in consequence of our wishes.
Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy.

Need

Have need of;
This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner

Want

Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need.
Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want.

Need

Have or feel a need for;
Always needing friends and money

Want

That which is needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt; what is not possessed, and is necessary for use or pleasure.
Habitual superfluities become actual wants.

Want

A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.

Want

To be without; to be destitute of, or deficient in; not to have; to lack; as, to want knowledge; to want judgment; to want learning; to want food and clothing.
They that want honesty, want anything.
Nor think, though men were none,That heaven would want spectators, God want praise.
The unhappy never want enemies.

Want

To have occasion for, as useful, proper, or requisite; to require; to need; as, in winter we want a fire; in summer we want cooling breezes.

Want

To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave.
I want to speak to you about something.

Want

To be absent; to be deficient or lacking; to fail; not to be sufficient; to fall or come short; to lack; - often used impersonally with of; as, it wants ten minutes of four.
The disposition, the manners, and the thoughts are all before it; where any of those are wanting or imperfect, so much wants or is imperfect in the imitation of human life.

Want

To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
You have a gift, sir (thank your education),Will never let you want.
For as in bodies, thus in souls, we findWhat wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind.

Want

A state of extreme poverty

Want

The state of needing something that is absent or unavailable;
There is a serious lack of insight into the problem
Water is the critical deficiency in desert regions
For want of a nail the shoe was lost

Want

Anything that is necessary but lacking;
He had sufficient means to meet his simple needs
I tried to supply his wants

Want

A specific feeling of desire;
He got his wish
He was above all wishing and desire

Want

Feel or have a desire for; want strongly;
I want to go home now
I want my own room

Want

Have need of;
This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner

Want

Wish or demand the presence of;
I want you here at noon!

Want

Hunt or look for; want for a particular reason;
Your former neighbor is wanted by the FBI
Uncle Sam wants you

Want

Be without, lack; be deficient in;
Want courtesy
Want the strength to go on living
Flood victims wanting food and shelter

What is Need?

The things that are necessary and without them your survival is in danger are your needs. Needs are things that you must have to. Food is the basic need of us. We can’t live without food. Water is also a need of us, without water we cannot survive for long. Oxygen is also a need of us, without oxygen we even can’t survive for 3 minutes. The basic necessities of life are the needs. Shelter or a house to live is a need.

WHat is Want?

The things for whom you have the desire to attain for your comfort and on the basis of your liking are your wants. Want is your wish for something which is not necessary but is good to have. You may wish to have a Mercedes, it is your want. You like ice cream and want to eat it. Ice cream is a food but not necessary for survival. It is your want to eat ice cream as you like its taste.

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