as in deprivations
the state of being robbed of something normally enjoyed
the constant privation of sleep was starting to affect my work
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Recent Examples of privations
Meanwhile, the European settlers, underprepared for actual conditions in the region, suffered great privations, and only 1,500 remained by 1832.
—
Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
Diaries kept by Eugenia Zieber describe the privations of the trail, chief among them the frequent deaths of fellow travelers.
—Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
At seventy, Padura is a voice of a generation that endured a long war in Angola and the privations that followed the Soviet collapse.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Since 2022, Russia repeatedly urged China to act quickly to save its economy from inevitable privations stemming from the collapse of its Western market.
—Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
In light of the extraordinary privations and mass killing of Gaza’s civilian population in the current war, Hamas’s external leader, Khaled Meshaal, has likened Gaza to Algeria, where independence was achieved only after the death of more than a million civilians.
—Leila Seurat, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2025
Laos, like almost all the countries in what was once Indochina—the fecund area of Southeast Asia controlled (minus Thailand) by the British or French for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries—has endured terrible privations and suffered a particularly brutal recent history.
—Hanya Yanagihara, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2018
Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
Diaries kept by Eugenia Zieber describe the privations of the trail, chief among them the frequent deaths of fellow travelers.
—Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
At seventy, Padura is a voice of a generation that endured a long war in Angola and the privations that followed the Soviet collapse.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Since 2022, Russia repeatedly urged China to act quickly to save its economy from inevitable privations stemming from the collapse of its Western market.
—Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
In light of the extraordinary privations and mass killing of Gaza’s civilian population in the current war, Hamas’s external leader, Khaled Meshaal, has likened Gaza to Algeria, where independence was achieved only after the death of more than a million civilians.
—Leila Seurat, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2025
Laos, like almost all the countries in what was once Indochina—the fecund area of Southeast Asia controlled (minus Thailand) by the British or French for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries—has endured terrible privations and suffered a particularly brutal recent history.
—Hanya Yanagihara, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for privations
Noun
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Dyer notes that Cox may well have been confused by the mental and physical trauma of the sinking and the deprivations of five days adrift.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Apr. 2026
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Such terrible deprivations the newcomers to our land must endure while guzzling nips, smoking weed and driving the wrong way on our interstate highways.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
“Privations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/privations. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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