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
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Recent Examples of famine
The tough conversation surrounding the safety and citizenship of those fleeing poverty, famine or war is at the forefront of Naomi Sheridan‘s Kiki.
—
Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2025
Keeping up with food demand Two years of war and Israeli restrictions on aid have pushed the population of Gaza to the brink of starvation, with the world’s leading authority on hunger declaring a famine in August in part of northern Gaza, including Gaza City.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025
The Dutch famine lasted less than six months, but its effects are still felt today.
—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
See All Example Sentences for famine
Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2025
Keeping up with food demand Two years of war and Israeli restrictions on aid have pushed the population of Gaza to the brink of starvation, with the world’s leading authority on hunger declaring a famine in August in part of northern Gaza, including Gaza City.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025
The Dutch famine lasted less than six months, but its effects are still felt today.
—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
See All Example Sentences for famine
Recent Examples of Synonyms for famine
Noun
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But as Kimmel shared with Danson, 77, things weren't easy in the beginning due to a shortage of star power.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
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However, the number of foreign residents has risen sharply in recent years, reaching a record 3 percent of the population in 2024, as Tokyo cautiously loosened visa requirements for workers in key industries facing labor shortages amid a declining birth rate and aging workforce.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But the mob’s relative lack of visibility does not mean it’s gone away.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
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Barcelona used a mix of zonal and man-marking but struggled when teams exploited their comparalative lack of height and physicality by using players in motion.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Heat, drought and other poor weather conditions have hurt coffee production globally in recent years, causing prices to surge.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
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He was named an All-Star and an All-NBA Third Team selection while leading the Kings to their first playoff appearance in 2023, ending the longest payoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Famine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/famine. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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