Hunger
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A need or compelling desire for food. countable, uncountable
- 2 strong desire for something (not food or drink) wordnet
- 3 Any strong desire or need. broadly, countable, uncountable
"I have a hunger to win."
- 4 a physiological need for food; the consequence of food deprivation wordnet
- 1 To be in need of food. intransitive
"Therefore if thine enemie hunger, feed him: if he thirst, giue him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heape coales of fire on his head."
- 2 be hungry; go without food wordnet
- 3 To have a desire (for); to long; to yearn. figuratively, intransitive, usually
"I hungered for your love."
- 4 have a craving, appetite, or great desire for wordnet
- 5 To make hungry; to famish. archaic, transitive
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- 6 feel the need to eat wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he always had enough to eat."
Etymology
From Middle English hunger, from Old English hungor (“hunger, desire; famine”), from Proto-West Germanic *hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hungruz, *hunhruz (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *kenk- (“to burn, smart, desire, hunger, thirst”). Cognate with West Frisian honger, hûnger (“hunger”), Dutch honger (“hunger”), German Low German Hunger (“hunger”), German Hunger (“hunger”), Swedish hunger (“hunger”), Icelandic hungur (“hunger”).
From Middle English hungren, from Old English hyngran, hyngrian, ġehyngrian (“to be hungry”), from Proto-West Germanic *hungrijan, from Proto-Germanic *hungrijaną.
Related phrases
More for "hunger"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.