as in shortages
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 famines
This was enough to cause widespread crop failures and famines.
—
Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Mar. 2026
Imagine what Irish and Indian patriots would have done to the innocent world language had the British staged massacres and caused famines on their lands.
—John Connelly, The New York Review of Books, 18 Dec. 2025
This was further supported by documentary evidence of poorer crop yields, weak harvests, and resultant famines.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 4 Dec. 2025
The great famines of the twentieth century were often driven by droughts.
—Arif Husain, Foreign Affairs, 11 Nov. 2025
And that’s how America can turn one of the worst famines in history into a $13 billion party.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 28 Oct. 2025
Since the Civil War, relief efforts had taken her to wars, floods, fires, famines, cyclones, and earthquakes.
—Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
Enter Bob Dylan, who gave a shoutout to those who grow the food that ends famines and sparked decades of giving through Live Aid.
—Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 17 Sep. 2025
Despite concerns about feeding a growing global population in the face of a changing climate, along with famines being declared in Sudan and Gaza, the number of calories consumed per person increased by 35% worldwide between 1960 and 2022 and shows no signs of slowing.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Mar. 2026
Imagine what Irish and Indian patriots would have done to the innocent world language had the British staged massacres and caused famines on their lands.
—John Connelly, The New York Review of Books, 18 Dec. 2025
This was further supported by documentary evidence of poorer crop yields, weak harvests, and resultant famines.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 4 Dec. 2025
The great famines of the twentieth century were often driven by droughts.
—Arif Husain, Foreign Affairs, 11 Nov. 2025
And that’s how America can turn one of the worst famines in history into a $13 billion party.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 28 Oct. 2025
Since the Civil War, relief efforts had taken her to wars, floods, fires, famines, cyclones, and earthquakes.
—Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
Enter Bob Dylan, who gave a shoutout to those who grow the food that ends famines and sparked decades of giving through Live Aid.
—Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 17 Sep. 2025
Despite concerns about feeding a growing global population in the face of a changing climate, along with famines being declared in Sudan and Gaza, the number of calories consumed per person increased by 35% worldwide between 1960 and 2022 and shows no signs of slowing.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for famines
Noun
-
But the shortages of Patriot defense systems remain a concern amid reports that the Pentagon is considering diverting advanced defensive weapons earmarked for Ukraine to the Middle East.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2026
-
In 2022, my final year in office, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent fertilizer prices surging several-fold, and farmers across Central America—and around the world—saw production costs spike almost overnight, raising fears of food shortages.—
Carlos Alvarado Quesada,
Fortune,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Dipping into 2027 draft capital to make a fifth-round selection in a draft that Schneider has repeatedly said lacks depth is a surprising move.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Industrial composting sites—big, regionalized facilities that can churn out large volumes of organic waste—are designed to speed up the composting process using heat, moisture, and carbon control, things that a simple countertop compost container lacks.—
Francesca Krempa,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Famines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/famines. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026.
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