1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

hunger 1 of 2

noun

ˈhəŋ-gər How to pronounce hunger (audio)
Definition of hungernext
1
as in appetite
a need or desire for food no degree of hunger would induce me to eat octopus

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in thirst
a strong wish for something a lonely girl with a desperate hunger for love

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in enthusiasm
urgent desire or interest reads everything he can find on airplanes with a seemingly insatiable hunger

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hunger (for)

2 of 2

verb

as in to crave
to have an earnest wish to own or enjoy voters hungering for honest and upright leadership

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hunger
Noun
More than half the population is estimated to need humanitarian assistance because of surging gang violence amid deepening poverty and hunger. — Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026 This matters because hunger is not simply about an empty refrigerator tonight. — Chris Card, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026 For more than 40 years, Weld Food Bank has been fighting hunger across all of Weld County. — Libby Smith, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026 The Global South holds the youth, the hunger and the hours; the West holds the capital, the markets and the institutions. — Hammad Ali Nasir, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hunger
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hunger
  1. appetite
  2. thirst
  3. enthusiasm
  4. starvation
  5. craving
  6. stomach
  7. desire
  8. longing
Noun
  • The market has already shown a voracious appetite for companies demonstrating copious free cash flows at a time when it's become scarce.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
  • What everyone was caught up in was an appetite with a longer history than the social media platforms now feeding it.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of appetite
Noun
  • Expect art displays from local artists and makers, live music and performances, mouthwatering grub, and a thirst-quenching beer and margarita booth.
    — Ashlyn Ware, Midwest Living, 15 Sep. 2026
  • McCaffrey dealt with cramps in the first half and finished with 10 carries for 68 yards, while the rookie Black showed his thirst for contact and speed with 14 carries for 65 yards.
    — Vic Tafur, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of thirst
Noun
  • Rubin nods along to those moments — which could have been trimmed and transformed JAŸ-Z in 8 into JAŸ-Z in 6 or maybe JAŸ-Z in 4 — with the same enthusiasm as when Carter actually breaks something down perceptively.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026
  • But Husted may not need to generate much enthusiasm of his own.
    — Joey Cappelletti, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of enthusiasm
Noun
  • But all of the effort is ultimately in vain, as every worker wasp will eventually perish from starvation or cold weather.
    — Caden Perry, jsonline.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • That means making sure humanitarian groups can get into conflict zones, protecting agricultural infrastructure from attacks, and prohibiting the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
    — Anna Nelson, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of starvation
Noun
  • Kanarek, a former heroin user, now took Suboxone to ease cravings.
    — Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • For customers who still miss this seasonal treat, the new mini pies will undoubtedly satisfy your craving.
    — Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of craving
Noun
  • Creative fare like biryani arancini, crab risotto with curry leaf pesto, and chicken tikka pot pie are worth arriving with an empty stomach for.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The court heard how the former nurse, now 36, attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them and poisoning them with insulin.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of stomach
Noun
  • When a beloved is lost, desire is displaced, but that doesn’t mean desire is gone.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • All played with an intensity and desire that was key to Liverpool securing their place in the fourth round.
    — Andy Jones, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of desire
Noun
  • Every now and then, in the early hours of the morning, Kumar sits in the stillness to watch the fishermen return with their catch and feels a pang of longing.
    — Kamala Thiagarajan, NPR, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Several of my favorite poetry collections capture the nuanced process of breaking up, with its extreme states of longing, anger, and sorrow—while also expanding the capacity for joy, pleasure, and compassion.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of longing

Phrases Containing hunger

Browse Nearby Words

hung back
hunger
hungered (for)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hunger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hunger. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on hunger

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about hunger

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of nemesis

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All