Synonyms
Examples of thirst in a Sentence
Hajar Harb, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2023
Some seniors experience a decrease in their sense of thirst.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 16 Nov. 2023
Their hunger and thirst were beginning to overwhelm their ability to execute mini-funerals.
—Mike O’Brien, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2023
The autoimmune condition typically causes symptoms like insatiable thirst, bed-wetting, frequent bathroom trips, weight loss, and emotional challenges, among others.
—Tiffany Ayuda, SELF, 10 Nov. 2023
The best inheritance in Mally Skok’s family is an unquenchable thirst for charm.
—Kathryn O'Shea-Evans, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Nov. 2023
What story could keep my girls distracted from hunger, thirst, and exhaustion when the Israeli blockade created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that grows more dire by the minute?
—TIME, 20 Oct. 2023
Anyone who does not die in the raids will die of hunger and thirst.
—Edith Olmsted, The New Republic, 17 Oct. 2023
Hamas’s Goals: Mounting grievances fueled Hamas’s decision to attack Israel, but the nature of the surprise assault was shaped by a deep thirst for revenge built up over decades of conflict.
—John Leland, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
Sean Gregory, Time, 9 Sep. 2023
Arguing Over Restaurant Choices and Cheese After their trainer David arrived, Ubah immediately began thirsting over him, even gently falling into his muscly arms.
—Henry Chandonnet, Peoplemag, 31 July 2023
In 1989, as the boys faced charges in the attack, an outraged city thirsted for their punishment.
—Suzette Hackney, USA TODAY, 6 July 2023
The Atlanta artist likens himself to the infamous vampire, but with platinum teeth and thirsting for bags of money.
—Cydney Lee, Billboard, 31 May 2023
Local clergymen have criticized them in newspaper op-eds as thirsting for revenge instead of forgiveness.
—Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post, 24 May 2023
There’s usually an opportune confluence, however, of the needs for crop irrigation and hydro generation in summer when farms thirst for water and the electrical grid is strained by air conditioners running full blast.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2023
While Paltrow was wishing her accuser well, people online were continuing to thirst over Egan, who is a member of her legal team and a partner at Epperson & Owens.
—Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 1 Apr. 2023
While, Bravohlics may be thirsting for blood, Madix is riding a wave of good will and good fortune, which includes a role in a new Lifetime movie.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 23 Mar. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thirst.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Middle English þurst, þrust, þirst, þrist, going back to Old English þurst, going back to Germanic *þurstu- (whence also West Frisian toarst "thirst," Old Saxon thurst, Old High German thurst, durst, beside an n-stem in Old Norse þorsti "thirst," Gothic þaurstei), going back to Indo-European *tr̥s-t- (whence also Old Irish tart "dryness, drought, thirst"), nominal derivative from a verbal base *ters- "dry up, become thirsty," whence Gothic gaþaursana "withered" (accusative plural participle, from a strong verb *gaþairsan "to wither," if not from gaþaursnan "to dry up, wither"), Greek térsomai, térsesthai "to become dry, dry up"; also from a present-tense formation *tr̥s-i̯e-, Old English þyrred "dried out," Gothic þaursjan "to be thirsty," Sanskrit tṛṣyati "(s/he) is thirsty"; from a causative *tors-éi̯e- Old High German derren "to make dry," Old Norse þerra, Latin torreō, torrēre "to heat so as to dry, scorch, parch, (of food) roast, bake," Sanskrit tarṣáyati "(s/he) makes thirsty," Hittite taršant- "drying"
Note: The noun thirst has lost etymological -u- in favor of the -i- spelling of the verb. Variation between -u- and -i- is already evident in Middle English, at a time when the vowels would still generally have been distinguished, along with metathetic variants with the vowel following r. The spelling thurst is not infrequent in the seventeenth century, though Samuel Johnson's dictionary (1755) only acknowledges thirst.
Verb
Middle English þirsten, þristen, thrusten "to suffer from thirst, be thirsty (in impersonal me thirsteth "I am thirsty"), going back to Old English þyrstan, going back to Germanic *þurstjan- (whence also Old Saxon thurstian "to be thirsty," Old High German thursten, dursten, Old Norse þyrsta), verbal derivative of *þurstu- "thirst" — more at thirst entry 1
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing thirst
Articles Related to thirst
Dictionary Entries Near thirst
Cite this Entry
“Thirst.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thirst. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
thirst
2 of 2 verb
Medical Definition
thirst
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on thirst
Nglish: Translation of thirst for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of thirst for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about thirst
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