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
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.
By helping the body store energy efficiently, it could have supported survival during periods of famine or food shortages.
From Science Daily • May 11, 2026
A famine in the mid-1990s killed hundreds of thousands of people, and reports indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic also pushed many into extreme hunger.
From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026
He smuggled himself into Hong Kong as a penniless 12-year-old escaping famine in communist China.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Fletcher said the UN was also trying to keep the Strait of Hormuz open in its bid to get aid convoys to sub-Saharan Africa amid a "looming famine" in the region.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
When the old King came to his throne it had been an England of armoured barons, and of famine, and of war.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
