famine

noun

fam·​ine ˈfa-mən 

1

: an extreme scarcity of food

The famine affected most of the country.

2

archaic : starvation

3

archaic : a ravenous appetite

4

: a great shortage

Transportation problems resulted in a coal famine.

Synonyms of famine

• shortage
• lack
• drought

Examples of famine in a Sentence

The famine affected half the continent.

millions killed by war, drought, and famine

Recent Examples on the Web

This is Conolly’s Folly, built in 1740 at the height of a terrible famine. —Amelia Soth, JSTOR Daily, 18 June 2026

In the 40-minute video, titled Persistence (2025), Cammock, who won the Turner Prize in 2019, mentions Oliver Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland, which included a famine. —Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 18 June 2026

War, famine, disease and death — all four horsemen of the apocalypse. —George Calhoun, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026

The move came amid cost-cutting efforts and claims of wasteful spending at the agency, which worked to prevent infectious diseases and supplied medicine and water to people in nations stricken by war, famine and drought. —USA Today, 17 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from feim, faim hunger, from Latin fames

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for famine

• gammon
• mammon
• backgammon
• examen
• examine
• glutamine
• reexamine

Kids Definition

famine

noun

fam·​ine ˈfam-ən 

1

: an extreme general shortage of food

2

: a great shortage