as in hunger
suffering or death caused by having nothing to eat or not enough to eat; the condition of someone who is starving
The famine brought mass starvation. Millions of people face starvation every day. They died from starvation.
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Recent Examples of starvation
By this point, experts were warning that half a million people in Gaza were at risk of starvation, and organizations such as the Rabbinical Assembly, an association of Conservative rabbis, were urging immediate action to alleviate civilian suffering.
—
Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Court records show that Gabriel was tortured by starvation, shot by BB guns, and forced to eat cat litter, cat feces and his own vomit.
—Rick Montanez, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
Still, food insecurity and isolated malnutrition aren’t the same as widespread starvation.
—Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 29 Mar. 2026
The judge said evidence of Ahmad's starvation did not prove cause of death.
—ABC News, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for starvation
Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Court records show that Gabriel was tortured by starvation, shot by BB guns, and forced to eat cat litter, cat feces and his own vomit.
—Rick Montanez, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
Still, food insecurity and isolated malnutrition aren’t the same as widespread starvation.
—Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 29 Mar. 2026
The judge said evidence of Ahmad's starvation did not prove cause of death.
—ABC News, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for starvation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for starvation
Noun
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The Muffuletta at Central Grocery When hunger hits, head to Central Grocery, the birthplace of the muffuletta sandwich and a NOLA original since 1906.—
Lauren Schuster,
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
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From that point in the novel to its wrenching end, June searches for her baby with the passionate abandon of a first-time mother and the aching hunger of every mother separated from her child.—
Meredith Maran,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The consequences will ultimately be most severe where needs are already most acute, in countries like Sudan, where the United Nations repeatedly documented famine in 2024 and 2025 and continues to warn of the threat of mass starvation.—
Comfort Ero,
Time,
3 Apr. 2026
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The diaries also included criticism of the Great Leap Forward, an industrialization program championed by Mao from 1958 to 1961 that caused a famine estimated to have killed as many as 40 million people.—
Jennifer Jett,
NBC news,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
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By November of that year, the agency said that 90% of camp residents could not afford an adequate diet and 15 percent of children were suffering from acute malnutrition, the highest rate ever recorded in the camps.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Still, food insecurity and isolated malnutrition aren’t the same as widespread starvation.—
Andre Mouchard,
Oc Register,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Starvation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/starvation. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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