frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

need v. 1 require, demand, want, be in want of, call for, have need
of or for; lack, miss, have occasion for: This room needs a
coat of paint. Although she may want more money, she doesn't
need it. Do you need anything to make you more comfortable?
--n. 2 necessity, requirement; call, demand, constraint:
There's no need to shout - I can hear you. There is a need to
keep this matter confidential. This facility will meet our
electricity needs for decades. 3 essential, necessary,
requisite, prerequisite, necessity, basic, fundamental, sine qua
non, necessary, desideratum: I am perfectly capable of taking
care of my family's needs. 4 distress, difficulty, trouble,
(dire or desperate) straits, stress, emergency, exigency,
extremity, neediness, needfulness; poverty, penury,
impecuniousness, destitution, privation, deprivation, indigence,
beggary: She was very supportive in his hour of need. The need
of the people in that district is heart-rending. 5 want, lack,
dearth, shortage, paucity, scarcity, insufficiency, desideratum:
The need for medical supplies was most sharply felt in areas
that were already ravaged by famine.
needless adj. 1 unnecessary, non-essential, unessential, unneeded,
unwanted, useless, uncalled-for, gratuitous, superfluous,
redundant, excess, excessive, tautological, dispensable,
expendable, supererogatory, de trop, pleonastic: He went to a
lot of needless trouble to change the tyre. It is needless to
raise further questions. 2 needless to say. naturally, (as a
matter) of course, obviously, it goes without saying: Needless
to say, he will have to resign when this comes to light.
needy adj. poor, indigent, poverty-stricken, destitute, impoverished,
penniless, impecunious, necessitous, underprivileged, deprived,
disadvantaged, below the poverty level, in dire straits, in or
on the way to the poorhouse, in reduced circumstances,
down-and-out, insolvent, Colloq on one's uppers, dead or flat or
stony-broke, hard up, strapped, pinched, on the breadline, up
against it, Brit on the dole, US dead broke, on welfare, on
relief: It is not enough to look after needy families only at
Christmas time.
negative adj. 1 contradictory, anti, contrary, dissenting, dissentious,
disputing, disputatious, argumentative, adversarial,