noun
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a prolonged period of scanty rainfall
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a prolonged shortage
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Archaic and Scot form: drouth. an archaic or dialect word for thirst
Pronunciation
Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced and respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth — drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high. In American English, drought with the pronunciation is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.
Usage
What does drought mean? A drought is a long period with no rain or unusually low levels of rain or other precipitation. Because weather and climate are different in different places throughout the world, there is no single definition of what counts as a drought. However, it always refers to a significant period of dry weather. Droughts have many harmful effects, including water shortages, crop failure, and in some cases famine, among other things. The word is often used in the phrase drought conditions, referring to very dry conditions resulting from a lack of rainfall. Drought can also be used in a figurative way to refer to an extended shortage of or long period without something, as in The city has the longest championship drought in all of sports. Example: The drought continued for more than three weeks and wildfires started to appear.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of drought
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English drūgath, equivalent to drūg- (base of drȳge “dry”) + -ath noun suffix; cognate with Dutch droogte “dryness”; see dry, -th 1
Explanation
When there is a drought somewhere, there's not enough rainfall. In certain areas, a drought can last for weeks, months, sometimes even years! Forget about running your lawn sprinkler during a drought; the water is needed for drinking, bathing, and toilet flushing. Another way drought can be used is to refer to a shortage of something (other than rainfall) that lasts for a long period of time, like a drought in job growth during a recession. Typically a drought is not a good thing and something you hope to avoid. For example, if your friend Kenny hasn't gone on a date in five years, it's safe to say that he is having a romantic drought.
Vocabulary lists containing drought
Vocabulary from Beyoncé's "Lemonade"
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Weather and Climate - Introductory
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The United States
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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:
And the National Farmers' Union has warned there could be a shortage of certain food products if current drought conditions continue.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Their postseason drought is about to hit 12 years, the longest in baseball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
A bad drought in 2018 wiped nearly 0.4 percentage points off German GDP, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Indeed, months of drought and heat waves tend to foreshadow the fiercest wildfires.
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026
“Sinclair Scientifica wants creative approaches to making artificial rainfall. They believe it can be used to counteract drought and famine across the globe.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Chemicals giant BASF, for instance, has invested in shallow-bottomed barges that are better equipped to navigate during droughts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Scientists have said that human-induced climate change makes the warm, dry conditions that lead to wildfires more likely - as well as leading to more frequent and intense heatwaves, and potential summer droughts.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
The US federal government on Friday unveiled its plan for future management of the beleaguered Colorado River, with significant water reductions ahead for several western states in response to record-breaking droughts worsened by climate change.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
This can lead to more severe and longer-lasting droughts, which have had noticeable effects on wildlife and farming.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
The Dragon King is one creature you stay friends with, since he can cause earthquakes as well as floods and droughts.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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.
