Meaning & use
felt need
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableformal
A need that people actually experience and recognize, as opposed to one that others assume they have.
Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural: felt needs.
Patterns
- a felt need for something
- a felt need among a group
- meet a felt need
The charity's programs are designed around the felt needs of the community, not what outsiders think is best.
There is a felt need for better public transportation in rural areas.
Researchers surveyed residents to identify their felt needs before planning the new health center.
Word forms
| plural | felt needs |
|---|
Common combinations
- felt need for
- There is a growing felt need for affordable housing.
- meet a felt need
- The new library meets a felt need for quiet study space.
- identify felt needs
- The survey helped identify the felt needs of local parents.
- address a felt need
- The program addresses a felt need for job training.
Synonyms and how they differ
- perceived need
- Similar, but 'perceived' can suggest a need that may not be real, while 'felt' emphasizes that people truly experience it.
- expressed need
- Focuses on needs that people have stated or voiced, whereas 'felt need' is about the internal experience.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
The community center was built to address a ______ need for after-school programs, according to parents themselves.
Choose one answer.
'Felt need' is the fixed phrase meaning a need people actually experience. 'Fell' is the past of 'fall', 'filled' means made full, and 'felled' means cut down.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “felt need”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.