hunger

[huhng-ger]

noun

1. a compelling need or desire for food.

2. the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by the need of food.

   to collapse from hunger.

3. a shortage of food; famine.

4. a strong or compelling desire or craving.

   hunger for power.

   Synonyms: itch, lust, greed, appetite

verb (used without object)

1. to feel hunger; be hungry.

2. to have a strong desire.

verb (used with object)

1. Rare.,  to subject to hunger; starve.

hunger

/ ˈhʌŋɡə /

noun

1. a feeling of pain, emptiness, or weakness induced by lack of food

2. an appetite, desire, need, or craving

   hunger for a woman

verb

1. to have or cause to have a need or craving for food

2. (intr; usually foll by for or after) to have a great appetite or desire (for)

Other Word Forms

• hungeringly adverb
• half-hungered adjective
• prehunger noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hunger¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hungor; cognate with German Hunger

Word History and Origins

Origin of hunger¹

Old English hungor; related to Old High German hungar, Old Norse hungr, Gothic hūhrus

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. from hunger, deplorably bad; dreadful: Also strictly from hunger.

   The styles in coats this winter are from hunger.

Example Sentences

There is a hunger and desire to win every game.

Read more on BBC

“I just tell patients to be careful if you do this and remember the hunger and food noise will come back,” she says, which could lead to overeating.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He focused on AI, a field where peer-reviewed research is still in its infancy and the hunger for data is insatiable.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Experts are predicting that world hunger is poised to get worse.

Read more on Salon

Now in its third year, Sudan's war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million more and triggered what the UN describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• craving 
• desire 
• famine 
• greed 
• longing 
• lust 
• starvation 
• yearning