Chinese symbol for “needs”

需要

xū yào

to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs

The closest CC-CEDICT match for needs is 需要 (xū yào), defined as: to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs.

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Characters and stroke order

需 xū

to need, to require; must

radical 173 ⾬ · 14 strokes

要 yào

essential, necessary; to ask for; to coerce; to demand

radical 146 ⾑ · 9 strokes

Related words

Other words that share a character with 需要.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
需求	xū qiú	requirement; to require
无需 (無需)	wú xū	needless
必需	bì xū	to need; to require
急需	jí xū	to urgently need; urgent need
必需品	bì xū pǐn	necessity; essential (thing)
主要	zhǔ yào	main; principal; major; primary
重要	zhòng yào	important; significant; major
要求	yāo qiú	to request; to require

See also: Japanese symbol for “needs”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.