Synonyms of famine

famine

noun

ˈfa-mən 

as in shortage

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number

there's a famine of good general practitioners in many rural areas

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of famine

Instead, when exposed to the same influx of nutrients, bacteria that had just experienced a feast-and-famine environment adapted much faster than bacteria coming from a stable environment. — Shiladitya Banerjee, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026

When famine hit Gaza as a result of an Israeli blockade last year, Khalaf organized a fundraising dinner at Saj Fresh Grill to raise awareness. — Miguel Otárola, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2026

Records from older disasters are often incomplete, and some estimates include people who died from famine, disease and displacement in the months that followed, while others count only deaths directly caused by the flood. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026

Regardless of war, famine, genocide, and the horrors of this most brutal of ages. — Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026