Compulsion
Need
Need noun - Something one must do because of prior agreement.
Usage example: no need to apologize
Compulsion is a synonym for need in want topic. You can use "Compulsion" instead a noun "Need", if it concerns topics such as necessity.
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
| physical | physical compulsion | physical need |
| particular | particular compulsion | particular need |
| natural | natural compulsion | natural need |
| strong | strong compulsion | strong need |
| Other adjectives: powerful, actual, constant, severe, big, serious, innate, urgent, new, instinctive, psychological, overwhelming, greater, increasing, obsessive, sudden, magical, biological. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- But that arguably is a case of one compulsion being overridden by another - his need to create order between life and death.
Source: Beat It By Compulsion -
In Batman Forever, Batman exploits The Riddler's need to be smarter than everyone else and Two-Face's compulsion to judge his decisions with the flip of a coin to defeat them both.
Source: Flaw Exploitation - Not only does he need everything to be ordered and clean as possible, he also has a counting compulsion that can become completely overwhelming.
Source: Series / Whitechapel
Cite this Source
Need and Compulsion. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/compulsion/need
Compulsion & Need. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/compulsion/need>.
Need or Compulsion. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/compulsion/need.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "compulsion" and "need" have occurred on timeline