want
/wɑnt/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.04 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave, hanker, or demand.
Transitive verb
verb
To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave, hanker, or demand.
Transitive verb
verb
To lack and be in need of or require (something, such as a noun or verbal noun).
Colloquial; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "I want you as a friend, not a foe."
- "What do you want to eat? I want you to leave. I never wanted to go back to live with my mother."
- "And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good."
- "Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal."
- "I want to find a supermarket. — Oh, okay. The supermarket is at 1500 Irving Street. It is near the apartment. — Great!"
- "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."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wanatōną Old Norse vantabor. Middle English wanten English want 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-.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /wɑnt/
- British English: /wɒnt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
wants (present, singular)
wanting (participle, present)
wanted (participle, past)
wanted (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
wanted (first person, past)
wantest (archaic, present)
wanted (past, second person)
wantedst (archaic, past)
wanteth (archaic, present)
wanted (past, singular)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Synonyms
set one's heart on
wish for
would like
lack
be without
need
be in need of
ache
appetize
aspire
covet
crave