noun
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a prolonged period of scanty rainfall
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a prolonged shortage
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Archaic and Scot form: drouth. an archaic or dialect word for thirst
Pronunciation
Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced and respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth — drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high. In American English, drought with the pronunciation is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.
Usage
What does drought mean? A drought is a long period with no rain or unusually low levels of rain or other precipitation. Because weather and climate are different in different places throughout the world, there is no single definition of what counts as a drought. However, it always refers to a significant period of dry weather. Droughts have many harmful effects, including water shortages, crop failure, and in some cases famine, among other things. The word is often used in the phrase drought conditions, referring to very dry conditions resulting from a lack of rainfall. Drought can also be used in a figurative way to refer to an extended shortage of or long period without something, as in The city has the longest championship drought in all of sports. Example: The drought continued for more than three weeks and wildfires started to appear.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of drought
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English drūgath, equivalent to drūg- (base of drȳge “dry”) + -ath noun suffix; cognate with Dutch droogte “dryness”; see dry, -th 1
Explanation
When there is a drought somewhere, there's not enough rainfall. In certain areas, a drought can last for weeks, months, sometimes even years! Forget about running your lawn sprinkler during a drought; the water is needed for drinking, bathing, and toilet flushing. Another way drought can be used is to refer to a shortage of something (other than rainfall) that lasts for a long period of time, like a drought in job growth during a recession. Typically a drought is not a good thing and something you hope to avoid. For example, if your friend Kenny hasn't gone on a date in five years, it's safe to say that he is having a romantic drought.
Vocabulary lists containing drought
Vocabulary from Beyoncé's "Lemonade"
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Weather and Climate - Introductory
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The United States
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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.
See Examples For:
The EA considers all of these factors before deciding whether to declare a drought.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
That infuriated Angels fans, of course, since their team has baseball’s longest playoff drought — 12 years, counting this one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Europe has been gripped by successive heatwaves and a major drought this year, which scientists have attributed to human-caused climate change.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
It shifts rainfall and temperature patterns across major agricultural regions, increasing the odds of drought in some areas and excessive rain in others.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Because of the ongoing drought, Nathan would have full control of the amount of water both groups received.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
The announcement means there have been three droughts in the past five years - 2022, 2025 and now 2026.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
European droughts are now more severe, climatologists from the World Weather Attribution group said in a study published on Thursday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Heat waves, low rainfall, and droughts contribute to the intensification of these violent fire seasons.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Particularly severe heatwaves and droughts can hit growth by 0.5 and 1 percentage points, respectively.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The Dragon King is one creature you stay friends with, since he can cause earthquakes as well as floods and droughts.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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.
