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Showing results for hunger. Search instead for hungrier.
Synonyms

hunger

American  
[huhng-ger] / ˈhʌŋ gər /

noun

  1. a compelling need or desire for food.

  2. the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by the need of food.

    to collapse from hunger.

  3. a shortage of food; famine.

  4. a strong or compelling desire or craving.

    hunger for power.
    Synonyms:
    itch, lust, greed, appetite

verb (used without object)

  1. to feel hunger; be hungry.

  2. to have a strong desire.

verb (used with object)

  1. Rare. to subject to hunger; starve.

idioms

  1. from hunger, deplorably bad; dreadful: Also strictly from hunger.

    The styles in coats this winter are from hunger.
hunger British  
/ ˈhʌŋɡə /

noun

  1. a feeling of pain, emptiness, or weakness induced by lack of food

  2. an appetite, desire, need, or craving

    hunger for a woman
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to have or cause to have a need or craving for food

  2. (intr; usually foll by for or after) to have a great appetite or desire (for)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • half-hungered adjective
  • hungeringly adverb
  • prehunger noun

Etymology

Origin of hunger

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hungor; cognate with German Hunger

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There’s clearly a hunger right now for Miller’s work.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

Covid set back the fight against hunger worldwide.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

At UCLA, professors in the Chicana/o and Central American Studies program — its founding dates to a 1993 hunger strike modeled after ones Chávez did — voted to remove his name from the department.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026

The drought also affected a vast stretch of land across East Africa, leaving some 26 million people "facing extreme hunger" in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, according to humanitarian organisation Oxfam.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

When Viju’s father was in Chennai, Neel could remember watching their friend’s hair become straw-colored from hunger.

From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.