Synonyms of drought

drought

noun

ˈdrau̇t 

variants also drouth

as in shortage

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number

there's been a drought of good movies this year

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shortage
• lack
• deficiency
• famine
• deficit
• scarcity
• poverty
• absence
• inadequacy
• paucity
• insufficiency
• crunch
• dearth
• undersupply
• failure
• lacuna
• scantiness
• pinch
• inadequateness
• scarceness
• omission
• want
• necessity
• privation
• meagerness
• skimpiness
• need
• poorness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• abundance
• amplitude
• adequacy
• wealth
• sufficiency
• plenty
• opulence
• surplus
• plenitude
• excess
• oversupply
• overabundance
• surfeit
• bountifulness
• copiousness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of drought

Ushindi, who had been orphaned, was observed struggling to join passing herds amid a devastating drought that had swept across the area. — Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026

The price hike, which followed an end to the team’s 53-year championship drought, outraged fans. — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026

The current restrictions are being driven by concerns that there will be a redux of the months-long drought that struck the area from mid-2023 to early 2024, when daily transits were reduced to as low as 22 ships per day. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026

When ranchers can’t afford to keep feeding animals through a drought, they’re forced to cull early, including breeding cows that would otherwise produce next year’s calf crop. — Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2026