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Synonyms

thirsty

American  
[thur-stee] / ˈθɜr sti /

adjective

thirstier, thirstiest

  1. feeling or having thirst; craving liquid.

  2. needing moisture, as land; parched; dry or arid.

    the thirsty soil.

  3. eagerly desirous; eager.

    thirsty for news.

  4. causing thirst.

    Digging is thirsty work.

  5. Slang.

    1. eager for attention or approval.

      thirsty celebrities.

    2. desperate for affection, sex, or sexual attention.

thirsty British  
/ ˈθɜːstɪ /

adjective

  1. feeling a desire to drink

  2. dry; arid

    the thirsty soil

  3. (foll by for) feeling an eager desire

    thirsty for information

  4. causing thirst

    thirsty work
"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

  • nonthirsty adjective
  • thirstily adverb
  • thirstiness noun
  • unthirsty adjective

Etymology

Origin of thirsty

First recorded before 950; Middle English thirsti, Old English thyrstig; akin to Dutch dorstig, German durstig, Sanskrit tṛṣita “thirsty,” from the Proto-Indo-European root ters-, tṛs- “dry,” from which Latin terra (from unattested tersa ) “(dry) land” derives

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.

“I am very thirsty, fox! And you sent me toward the wrong light! Again!”

From Literature

NBC merely needed to wait until our yearning for respite and distraction became so acute as to make us thirsty for harmony.

From Salon

We were thirsty and hungry: we had had nothing to eat or drink since the early meal at Scheveningen the morning before.

From Literature

He hadn’t known he was thirsty, but as he took a long drink, he felt strength returning.

From Literature

Meanwhile, the automaker’s biggest, thirstiest trucks are also its top sellers.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.