famine
Americannoun
-
extreme and general scarcity of food, as in a country or a large geographical area.
-
any extreme and general scarcity.
- Synonyms:
- scantness, meagerness, poverty, paucity, dearth
-
extreme hunger; starvation.
noun
-
a severe shortage of food, as through crop failure or overpopulation
-
acute shortage of anything
-
violent hunger
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of famine
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French, derivative of faim “hunger,” from Latin famēs; cf. famish
Explanation
A famine is a severe shortage of food, but not the "I forgot to go to the grocery store and there's nothing to eat in the house" type of shortage. A famine is usually caused by crop failure or disaster. Although the "extreme shortage of food" meaning is most common, the noun famine can also mean any shortage or insufficiency, and it is often used idiomatically in the phrase "feast or famine." This usage refers to something that is alternately plentiful and scarce — like the feast and famine experienced by an artist who only occasionally sells his paintings.
Vocabulary lists containing famine
St. Patrick's Day Vocabulary: Words With Irish and Gaelic Roots
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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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.
Another suggests Irish immigrants crafted the candy as a nostalgic nod to home — or even as a reference to the Great Famine.
From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network recently said 20 to 25 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia need humanitarian food assistance, more than half because of drought.
From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026
Famine is gripping camps of displaced people in the city and other areas of Sudan, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a group of international experts that analyze hunger crises.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 28, 2025
Art Rooney's great-grandparents were among the estimated two million Irish people who emigrated to North America during the Great Famine.
From BBC • Sep. 26, 2025
Unfortunately, the colony losses from 2006 to 2020 were a precursor to a much larger crisis to come, which ultimately resulted in the Global Famine of 2100.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
