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
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
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
-
And there was a habeas petition, which is a particular kind of lawsuit that allows somebody to challenge the legality of their imprisonment or other deprivations of liberty.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Make no mistake, though, Huus Quell is no retreat of deprivations.—
Jackie Caradonio,
Travel + Leisure,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Each provides amino acids that the other lacks, so eating them together gives you all the essential amino acids.—
Merve Ceylan,
Health,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Economic theory would suggest that the best place to make a major investment such as a STAR bond would be in a place that has low, or lacks, economic activity.—
Sofi Zeman
January 21,
Kansas City Star,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Privations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/privations. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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