Need
Need noun - Something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable.
Usage example: got a job that barely provided for his basic needs
Wish is a synonym for need in longing topic. In some cases you can use "Wish" instead the word "Need" as a noun or a verb, when it comes to topics like want, requirement, want something.
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
| good | good need | good wish |
| special | special need | special wish |
| specific | specific need | specific wish |
| current | current need | current wish |
| Other adjectives: original, true, genuine, single, selfish, strong, actual, real, little, personal, secret, new, possible, desperate, apparent, limited, last, greatest, different, magical. | ||
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
-
To cup it all, due to his immense physical strength Ryuho is capable of wielding the thing with only one hand should he wish or need so.
Source: Carry a Big Stick -
When he doesn't need/wish to do this, he leaves it shut.
Source: Manga / Mega Man Megamix - But "want" originally meant "lack" or "need"; the modern meaning of "desire" or "to wish for" didn't arise until the 19th century.
Source: Have A Gay Old Time / Literature
Cite this Source
Wish and Need. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/need/wish
Need & Wish. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/need/wish>.
Wish or Need. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/need/wish.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "need" and "wish" have occurred on timeline