famished

[ fam-isht ]

/ ˈfæm ɪʃt /

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adjective

extremely hungry: to be famished after a hike; famished, homeless multitudes.

Nearby words

Origin of famished

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at famish, -ed²

SYNONYMS FOR famished

See hungry.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR famished ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formshalf-fam·ished, adjective

famish

[ fam-ish ]

/ ˈfæm ɪʃ /

verb (used with or without object) Archaic.

to suffer or cause to suffer extreme hunger; starve.

to starve to death.

Origin of famish

1350–1400; Middle English famisshe, equivalent to famen to starve (< Anglo-French, Middle French afamer < Vulgar Latin *affamāre, equivalent to Latin af- af- + famāre, derivative of famēs hunger) + -isshe -ish²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for famished

North Korea is this impoverished, famished regime, but they have our attention because they have nuclear weapons.
What Bret Stephens Said At Yeshiva University|Bret Stephens|October 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Famished Financier Dear Famished: You, sir, have come to the right place.
A Declaration of Financial Independence|Megan McArdle|February 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Dash Snow was an artist whose subject matter involved rats, famished dogs, squalid sex, police brutality, and street life.
Dash Snow: Death of an Art Star|Ana Finel Honigman|July 16, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile the wolves draw ever nearer and nearer, as their courage rises in response to the voice of their famished bellies.
In the Brooding Wild|Ridgwell Cullum

They piled his plate and filled his coffee cup again and again and watched him while he ate like a famished wolf.
Army Boys on the Firing Line|Homer Randall
Not till I have had something to eat; I can thank nobody while I am so famished.
The Professor|(AKA Charlotte Bronte) Currer Bell
Their howlings and croakings evidently came from famished mouths.
Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume 28|Various
Endless stories could be told of speculators hoarding food and watching unmoved the sufferings of a famished people.
The Day of the Confederacy|Nathaniel W. Stephenson

British Dictionary definitions for famished

famish

/ (ˈfæmɪʃ) /

verb

(now usually passive) to be or make very hungry or weak

archaic to die or cause to die from starvation

Irish to make very coldI was famished with the cold

Derived Formsfamishment, noun

Word Origin for famish

C14: from Old French afamer, via Vulgar Latin, from Latin famēs famine

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

Word Origin and History for famished

famish

c.1400, famyschen, alteration of famen (late 14c.), a shortening of Old French afamer, from Vulgar Latin *affamare "to bring to hunger," from ad famem, from Latin fames "hunger" (see famine).

Ending changed mid-14c. to -ish under influence of ravish, anguish, etc. The intransitive sense is from 1520s. Related: Famished; famishing.