What does "want" mean?
A desire, wish, longing.
Want
/wɒnt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A desire, wish, longing.
- Grammar: want is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: deficiency, desire, lack, need.
- Useful contrasts: undesiring, withal, adequacy.
- Usage evidence: It's because you don't want to be alone.
How to use "want"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "want" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "want" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "want" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "want" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "want" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "deficiency" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "want", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A desire, wish, longing. countable
"After a search which produced most of the things on our wants list, we went down to picnic on the shore in the sunshine-with a good stretch of shingle behind us over which no triffid could approach unheard."
- 2 A mole (Talpa europea). dialectal
"Lic. She hath the ears of a want. / Pec. Doth she want ears?"
- 3 a specific feeling of desire wordnet
- 4 Lack, absence, deficiency. countable
"She showed a want of caution in renting her house to complete strangers."
- 5 anything that is necessary but lacking wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 Poverty. uncountable
"Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want."
- 7 the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable wordnet
- 8 Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt. countable, uncountable
"Habitual superfluities become actual wants."
- 9 a state of extreme poverty wordnet
- 10 A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place. UK, countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave, hanker, or demand. transitive
"I want you as a friend, not a foe."
- 2 wish or demand the presence of wordnet
- 3 To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave, hanker, or demand.; To make it easy or tempting to do something undesirable, or to make it hard or challenging to refrain from doing it. broadly, transitive
"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."
- 4 have need of wordnet
- 5 To wish, desire, or demand to see, have the presence of or do business with. transitive
"Ma’am, you are exactly the professional we want for this job."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 hunt or look for; want for a particular reason wordnet
- 7 To desire (to experience desire); to wish. intransitive
"You can leave if you want."
- 8 feel or have a desire for; want strongly wordnet
- 9 To be advised to do something (compare should, ought). colloquial, second-person, usually
"You’ll want to repeat this three or four times to get the best result."
- 10 be without, lack; be deficient in wordnet
- 11 To lack and be in need of or require (something, such as a noun or verbal noun). colloquial, transitive
"The lady, it is said, will inherit a fortune of three hundred pounds a year, with two cool thousands left by an uncle, on her arriving at the age of twenty-one, of which she wants but a few months."
- 12 To have occasion for (something requisite or useful); to require or need. archaic, transitive
"Man wants but little, nor that little long."
- 13 To be lacking or deficient or absent. dated, intransitive
"There was something wanting in the play."
- 14 To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack. dated, intransitive
"You have a gift, sir (thank your education), / Will never let you want."
- 15 To lack and be without, to not have (something). archaic, transitive
"he that hath skill to be a pilot wants a ship; and he that could govern a commonwealth[…]wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage."
- 16 To lack and perhaps be able or willing to do without. broadly, obsolete, transitive
"[…] which the Kings of Assyria had left for the maintenance of this Temple sacrifices, after the ouerthrow thereof, was shared among the Chaldzans; which they by this attempt were like to lose, and therefore were willing to want his presence."
- 17 To desire a romantic or (especially) sexual relationship with someone; to lust for.
"Dang, girl! Your brother is gorgeous! I want him so bad!"
Proper Noun
- 1 A personification of want.
Antonyms
Example
"It's because you don't want to be alone."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "want"?
Common synonyms include: deficiency, desire, lack, need, wish, absence.
How do you use "want" in a sentence?
It's because you don't want to be alone.
How do you pronounce "want"?
Pronounced /wɒnt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English wanten (“to lack, to need”), from Old Norse vanta (“to lack”), from Proto-Germanic *wanatōną (“to be wanting, lack”), from *wanô (“lack, deficiency”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”). Cognate with Middle High German wan (“not full, empty”), Middle Dutch wan (“empty, poor”), Old English wana (“want, lack, absence, deficiency”), Latin vanus (“empty”). See wan, wan-.
Etymology 2
From Middle English wont (“mole”), from Old English wand, wond, from Proto-Germanic *wanduz.