food insecure

adjective

variants or less commonly food-insecure

ˈfüd-ˌin-si-ˈkyu̇r 

: unable to consistently access or afford adequate food

According to data released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17 percent of Americans—more than 50 million people—live in households that are "food insecure," a term that means a family sometimes runs out of money to buy food, or it sometimes runs out of food before it can get more money.

—Lisa Miller

A food-insecure household may be faced with the difficult choice of paying for basic necessities, such as health care and housing, or buying nutritionally adequate foods.

—Elyse Miller

Examples of food insecure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

According to the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, compiled by the FAO, up to 720 million people are chronically food insecure. —Arif Husain, Foreign Affairs, 11 Nov. 2025

Across the entire county, about 16% of residents are food insecure. —Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Nov. 2025

One in four post-9/11 veterans is food insecure. —Cari Shane, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025

Miami’s 211 helpline for people in crisis has been receiving an influx of calls from people who are food insecure, according to Jewish Community Services of South Florida, the organization that operates the free helpline. —Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above