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

• 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

Those born in unaffected areas, or siblings born before or after the famine, could serve as a control group. —Clayton Dalton, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2025

Sources also question whether there may be bias in the IPC’s famine predictions. —Beth Bailey, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2025

But the potential catastrophe of famine, brought about by an untested planet-wide experiment to only slightly increase our electrical production capacity, seems like a cost-heavy, benefit-light endeavor. —Big Think, 15 Oct. 2025

Instead, the war that resulted transformed the archipelago into a post-apocalyptic wasteland of famine, disease, ecological disaster, and hundreds of thousands dead. —Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025

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