want means "feel or have a desire for; want strongly". That is the primary sense; the word has 9 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in want?

want has 1 syllable: want. In IPA it is /ˈwɑnt/.

What is another word for want?

Close synonyms include desire, need, require, privation, deprivation. 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 want a common word?

want is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

want — meaning, pronunciation and 9 definitions

verb

5 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
“I want to go home now”
“I want my own room”
Synonymsdesire
Narrowercrave fancy miss hope wish itch like ambition feel like envy
2.
have need of
“This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner”
Synonymsneed require
Broaderbe
Narrowercry
3.
hunt or look for; want for a particular reason
“Your former neighbor is wanted by the FBI”
“Uncle Sam wants you”
Broadersearch
4.
wish or demand the presence of
“I want you here at noon!”
Broaderdemand
5.
be without, lack; be deficient in
“want courtesy”
“want the strength to go on living”
“flood victims wanting food and shelter”
Broadermiss

noun

4 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a state of extreme poverty
Synonymsprivation deprivation neediness
Broaderpoverty
2.
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”
Synonymslack deficiency
Broaderneed
Narrowerabsence dearth deficit mineral deficiency shortness stringency
3.
anything that is necessary but lacking
“he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs”
“I tried to supply his wants”
Synonymsneed
Broadernecessity
4.
a specific feeling of desire
“he got his wish”
“he was above all wishing and desire”
Synonymswish wishing
Broaderdesire
Narrowervelleity

Other forms of want

plural: wants·
past tense: wanted·
present participle: wanting·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about want

What does want mean?: want means "feel or have a desire for; want strongly". That is the primary sense; the word has 9 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in want?: want has 1 syllable: want. In IPA it is /ˈwɑnt/.
What is another word for want?: Close synonyms include desire, need, require, privation, deprivation. 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 want a common word?: want is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for want come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

verb

5 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
“I want to go home now”
“I want my own room”
Synonymsdesire
Narrowercrave fancy miss hope wish itch like ambition feel like envy
2.
have need of
“This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner”
Synonymsneed require
Broaderbe
Narrowercry
3.
hunt or look for; want for a particular reason
“Your former neighbor is wanted by the FBI”
“Uncle Sam wants you”
Broadersearch
4.
wish or demand the presence of
“I want you here at noon!”
Broaderdemand
5.
be without, lack; be deficient in
“want courtesy”
“want the strength to go on living”
“flood victims wanting food and shelter”
Broadermiss

noun

4 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a state of extreme poverty
Synonymsprivation deprivation neediness
Broaderpoverty
2.
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”
Synonymslack deficiency
Broaderneed
Narrowerabsence dearth deficit mineral deficiency shortness stringency
3.
anything that is necessary but lacking
“he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs”
“I tried to supply his wants”
Synonymsneed
Broadernecessity
4.
a specific feeling of desire
“he got his wish”
“he was above all wishing and desire”
Synonymswish wishing
Broaderdesire
Narrowervelleity

Other forms of want

plural: wants·
past tense: wanted·
present participle: wanting·

Questions about want

What does want mean?: want means "feel or have a desire for; want strongly". That is the primary sense; the word has 9 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in want?: want has 1 syllable: want. In IPA it is /ˈwɑnt/.
What is another word for want?: Close synonyms include desire, need, require, privation, deprivation. 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 want a common word?: want is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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want

verb

noun

Other forms of want

Questions about want

Tools

Jump to

Images & video

PDF & writing

Calculate & convert

Health & fitness

AI, code & work

Learn & play

Tool directories

Search

Jump to

Explore AltFTool

Help

Theme

want

verb

noun

Other forms of want

Questions about want