as needed

1. 1.

   according to need (physicians use PRN in writing prescriptions)

   “add water as needed”

   Synonymsas requiredpro re nataPRN

Questions about as needed

What does as needed mean?

as needed means "according to need (physicians use PRN in writing prescriptions)".

What is another word for as needed?

Close synonyms include as required, pro re nata, PRN. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is as needed a common word?

as needed is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.