wanting

Pluralwantings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of want.

   He grew tired of always wanting things he could not afford.

   Wanting nothing in return, she offered her help freely.

   Note

   The -ing form carries the whole range of the verb want. That includes desiring something, asking to see someone (the manager is wanting you), and two colloquial uses: being advised to do something, and needing something (the car is wanting a wash). The same spelling also serves as an adjective, where it can mean the opposite of desire, as in the "lacking" meaning.

2. 2
   adjective

   Absent or lacking; not present where it is expected or needed.

   Several signatures were still wanting on the final contract.

   When the auditor arrived, key records were wanting from the archive.

   Similarmissing, absent, lacking

   Oppositepresent

   Note

   Here the word nearly always comes after a verb rather than before a noun. In Addison's Cato (1713), "numbers would be wanting" to raise new armies, and in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813), "other powers of entertainment are wanting." Naturalists use it flatly: the 1902 Proceedings of the United States National Museum describes a wing mark as "small or wanting," meaning simply not there.

3. 3
   adjective

   Falling short of what is required; deficient in quality or amount.

   Critics found the sequel wanting in both wit and pacing.

   Measured against the original, the new design was clearly wanting.

   Similardeficient, lacking, inadequate, insufficient, unsatisfactory

   Oppositeadequate, sufficient, satisfactory, acceptable

   Note

   Nothing is missing outright here; what is present falls short. Its natural home is a verdict, found wanting, used after someone has been tested or judged. Dana Stabenow's Dead in the Water (1993) has Kate glad that she had been "judged and not found wanting." Unlike the "absent" meaning, the thing being described is there to be weighed, and it proves inadequate.

4. 4
   adjective

   Having a wish or desire for something.

   She cast a wanting look at the last slice of pie.

   His wanting gaze lingered on the sleek motorcycle in the showroom.

   Similarlonging, covetous, hungry, wistful

5. 5
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The condition of desiring something; a longing or need.

   A restless wanting drove her to keep searching for more.

   The poem captures the deep ache of human wanting.

   Similarlonging, desire, yearning, craving, need

   Oppositecontentment, satisfaction

   Note

   Usually uncountable, the noun can also be counted when each desire is treated as a separate item. Joseph H. Casey's Life, Love, and Sex (2004) says choice arises only from "a conflict of wantings," picturing desires that pull against one another. The plural wantings is rare and slightly philosophical in tone, so it suits reflective writing better than everyday speech.

6. 6
   preposition

   Short of by a stated amount; less; minus.

   The journey lasted a month wanting two days.

   By his count the crowd numbered a thousand wanting forty.

   Similarminus, less

   Oppositeplus

7. 7
   preposition

   Without; lacking; except for.

   Wanting any real proof, the case soon fell apart.

   A leader wanting courage cannot inspire others.

   Similarwithout, minus

   Oppositewith

Showing meanings only. Show all 7