starvation

[ stahr-vey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act or state of starving; condition of being starved.

adjective

1. liable or seeming to cause starving:

   a starvation diet.

Word History and Origins

Origin of starvation¹

First recorded in 1770–80; starve + -ation

Example Sentences

Many unhoused people work full time but earn starvation, unlivable wages.

From Time

A humanitarian crisis now unfolded live on India’s TV screens as nearly 1,000 migrants died from various lockdown-related causes—traffic accidents, starvation, and even police brutality as officers mercilessly enforced the rules.

From MIT Technology Review

It is the most severe starvation crisis in the world right now, and it is almost entirely manmade.

From Vox

They seem to have died quietly, perhaps of cold, starvation, or illness.

From Ars Technica

Many animals swept offshore simply die of thirst or starvation before hitting islands.

From Singularity Hub 

For someone with anorexia, self-starvation makes them feel better.

From The Daily Beast

First, the starvation: The state of New York is being sued again for funding public schools below constitutional levels.

From The Daily Beast

So too, could it encourage population booms, or wipe out millions through starvation and destruction.

From The Daily Beast

In fact, some assert that killing whales is necessary to prevent world starvation.

From The Daily Beast

And food, far from being a source of energy and enjoyment, has become a battleground of guilt and shame and excess and starvation.

From The Daily Beast

But in the great famines, as in India and Russia, God allows millions to die of starvation.

From Project Gutenberg

It was painfully evident to the most casual observer, that she had died of absolute starvation.

From Project Gutenberg

For these people, under the older dispensation, there was nothing but the poorhouse, the jail or starvation by the roadside.

From Project Gutenberg

Starvation from a lack of food supplies followed, and the population of the colony was reduced from 500 to 60 people.

From Project Gutenberg

He knew, if those watching him did not, the terrible pangs of starvation and here was provision for many a day.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• deprivation
• famine
• malnutrition