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definitions

hungry

[huhng-gree]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hungry ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, hun·gri·er, hun·gri·est.

having a desire, craving, or need for food; feeling hunger.
indicating, characteristic of, or characterized by hunger: He approached the table with a hungry look.
strongly or eagerly desirous.
lacking needful or desirable elements; not fertile; poor: hungry land.
marked by a scarcity of food: The depression years were hungry times.
Informal. aggressively ambitious or competitive, as from a need to overcome poverty or past defeats: a hungry investment firm looking for wealthy clients.

Origin of hungry

before 950; Middle English, Old English hungrig. See hunger, -y1
Related formshun·gri·ly, adverbhun·gri·ness, noun
Can be confusedHungary hungry (see synonym study at the current entry)

Synonyms for hungry

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hungry ON THESAURUS.COM
1. ravenous, famishing, starving. Hungry, famished, starved describe a condition resulting from a lack of food. Hungry is a general word, expressing various degrees of eagerness or craving for food: hungry between meals; desperately hungry after a long fast; hungry as a bear. Famished denotes the condition of one reduced to actual suffering from want of food, but sometimes is used lightly or in an exaggerated statement: famished after being lost in a wilderness; simply famished ( hungry ). Starved denotes a condition resulting from long-continued lack or insufficiency of food, and implies enfeeblement, emaciation, or death (originally death from any cause, but now death from lack of food): He looks thin and starved. By the end of the terrible winter, thousands had starved ( to death ). It is also used as a humorous exaggeration: I only had two sandwiches, pie, and some milk, so I'm simply starved ( hungry ).

Antonyms for hungry

1. sated, satiated, surfeited.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hungrily

willingly, cordially, vigorously, sincerely, promptly, intently, zealously, heartily, gladly, earnestly, energetically, readily, breathlessly, actively, impatiently, enthusiastically, ardently, fervently, longingly, fiercely

Examples from the Web for hungrily

Contemporary Examples of hungrily

Historical Examples of hungrily

  • Percival read them all hungrily, disregarding those that did not confirm his own opinions.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • No other woman since the world began had been so fit for love, had yearned for it so hungrily.

  • Hungrily I peered after them up the long cavernous docksheds.

    The Harbor

    Ernest Poole

  • "Sure, an' I've a mind to reach up there an' grab that sandwich," he said hungrily.

  • Her own mouth, for that matter, had taken his kisses--and hungrily, or he was no judge of kissing.

    Nobody

    Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for hungrily

hungry

adjective -grier or -griest

desiring food
experiencing pain, weakness, or nausea through lack of food
(postpositive foll by for) having a craving, desire, or need (for)
expressing or appearing to express greed, craving, or desire
lacking fertility; poor
Australian and NZ informal
  1. greedy; grasping
  2. stingy; mean
NZ (of timber) dry and bare
Derived Formshungrily or hungeringly, adverbhungriness, noun
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 hungrily

hungry

Old English hungrig "hungry, famished;" see hunger + -y (2). Cf. Old Frisian hungerig, Dutch hongerig, German hungrig. Figurative use from c.1200. Related: Hungrily.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper