thirsty
Americanadjective
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thirstier,
comparative
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thirstiest
superlative
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feeling or having thirst; craving liquid.
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needing moisture, as land; parched; dry or arid.
the thirsty soil.
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eagerly desirous; eager.
thirsty for news.
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causing thirst.
Digging is thirsty work.
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Slang.
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eager for attention or approval.
thirsty celebrities.
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desperate for affection, sex, or sexual attention.
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adjective
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feeling a desire to drink
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dry; arid
the thirsty soil
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(foll by for) feeling an eager desire
thirsty for information
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causing thirst
thirsty work
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
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
Explanation
When you're thirty, you crave liquids. Thirsty people want a drink. To be thirsty is to feel like you need to drink something. People tend to get more thirsty on very hot days or during exercise, when a lot of their body's fluid is being sweated out. Eating can also make you thirsty, and so can waking up in the morning. The word thirsty comes from the Proto-Indo-European root ters, or "dry."
Vocabulary lists containing thirsty
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.
See Examples For:
Power and water outages have affected tens of thousands of buildings, leaving residents sweltering and thirsty, and fearing yet another repeat of the quake that struck 10 years ago.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
The company Cadiz Inc. has been trying for years to pump groundwater in the Mojave Desert and ship it to thirsty cities in California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Boston will remember the Tartan Army’s thirsty visit to Massachusetts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
If she’s thirsty, she has access to an automatically refilling bowl.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
I’ve got a water bottle and snacks for when I get thirsty and hungry.
From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan
When, last year, Congress suspended fuel economy penalties for light vehicles, Ford could afford to sell more of its larger, thirstier, more robust V8s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
It is the largest city in the world not built on a water source, and the city of gold is getting thirstier.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024
“A warmer atmosphere is a thirstier atmosphere, and without a compensating increase in precipitation, which has not occurred, humans and ecosystems will be left with less water.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2024
Rising temperatures, a thirstier atmosphere and the expansion of communities around the edges of the reserve put the Pine Barrens at risk.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 23, 2023
“I’m getting thirstier every minute. If it didn’t hurt you, it won’t hurt me. If my papa was here, he’d let me have some.”
From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit
Meanwhile, the automaker’s biggest, thirstiest trucks are also its top sellers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
No one who watched is likely to forget Rubio’s awkward stare as he furtively reached for a water bottle, cementing his reputation as the thirstiest man in the U.S.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2025
Shadowed by a towering mountain range, Sequim experiences the Olympic Peninsula’s thirstiest microclimate with only 17 inches of rain annually — compared to 37 inches in Seattle.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
Meanwhile, almonds — one of our thirstiest crops — are proliferating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2023
Burke Ranger was one of the thirstiest when he reached the town after his ride through the desert—a ride upon which he had flatly refused to allow Sylvia to accompany him.
From The Top of the World by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell
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.
