famished

[ fam-isht ]

adjective

1. extremely hungry: famished multitudes in the immediate postwar period.

   to be famished after a hike;

   famished multitudes in the immediate postwar period.

Other Words From

• half-fam·ished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of famished¹

First recorded in 1450–1500; late Middle English; famish + -ed ²( def )

Synonym Study

See hungry.

Example Sentences

With much of Europe and Asia suffering from mass hunger, the swelling surpluses of American agriculture fed a famished humanity.

From Salon

"At dinner, overindulgence doesn't happen because you don’t come to the table famished," she added.

From Salon

And audiences, it turned out, were famished for such a protagonist.

From Los Angeles Times

The suspension will deprive the increasingly famished population of Gaza of a stream of humanitarian food aid, at a time when practically every source of provisions is critical for staving off what experts have been warning for weeks is an imminent famine.

From New York Times

A few years back, at the labyrinthine Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee, my mother and I were hungry but not famished and opted for a simple guacamole-and-margarita dinner on one of the many walkways that snaked throughout the resort like tentacles.

From Salon