Need and Purpose

Need

Need noun - A state of being without something necessary, desirable, or useful.

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Purpose and need are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Purpose" instead a noun "Need".

Nearby Words: needed, needs, needy, needless, needful

Purpose noun - Something that one hopes or intends to accomplish.

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Need and purpose are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Need" instead a noun "Purpose".

good	good need	good purpose
special	special need	special purpose
particular	particular need	particular purpose
usual	usual need	usual purpose
Other adjectives: specific, original, true, single, obvious, selfish, actual, real, little, practical, new, dramatic, general, possible, apparent, less, further, greater, different.

need ability

purpose ability

And it turns out to be a lot more complex as both species are intertwined into some extremely vague purpose and need each other for survival.

Source: Series / Earth: Final Conflict
And winds up getting a wife, and finds out that he already does have a purpose, as well as the fact that his best friend cares for him will help out without any hesitation should John need it.

Source: Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life
Calvin the Zombie is one of his many alter egos, this one created for the purpose that the undead don't need to do homework.

Source: Pretend We're Dead

Cite this Source

Purpose and Need. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/need/purpose

Need & Purpose. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/need/purpose>.

Purpose or Need. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/need/purpose.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "need" and "purpose" have occurred on timeline