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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
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 starvation
There is no serious ethical or political system that can justify the murder and starvation of children.
—
Literary Hub, 4 May 2026
In visual journalism, The Times got a breaking news photography award for depicting devastation and starvation in Gaza resulting from Israel’s war in the territory.
—Jennifer Peltz, Twin Cities, 4 May 2026
Her autopsy showed the 11-year-old died of starvation and child abuse.
—Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 30 Apr. 2026
Reports that dozens of people had died, including some of apparent starvation, made no difference.
—ABC News, 28 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for starvation
Literary Hub, 4 May 2026
In visual journalism, The Times got a breaking news photography award for depicting devastation and starvation in Gaza resulting from Israel’s war in the territory.
—Jennifer Peltz, Twin Cities, 4 May 2026
Her autopsy showed the 11-year-old died of starvation and child abuse.
—Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 30 Apr. 2026
Reports that dozens of people had died, including some of apparent starvation, made no difference.
—ABC News, 28 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for starvation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for starvation
Noun
-
Building up a man whose appetite, whose isolation, whose just general hunger to dominate, making that character and then giving him this one lifeline to humanity in Vanessa — that’s all calculated.—
Tracy Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2026
-
The final nail in the coffin may have been Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, a 2012 juggernaut that primed the public for twisty, femme-centric thrillers—a hunger that still hasn’t faded.—
Hillary Busis,
Vanity Fair,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Tuberculosis, for instance, is estimated to have caused about a billion deaths across history, more than all famines and wars combined.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
-
Within the next few years, as famine spread throughout China and the Cultural Revolution began, her grandmother and three of her brothers died of starvation, tuberculosis, and drowning.—
René Ostberg,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The male pup was diagnosed with malnutrition, maternal separation, and unknown trauma, the center said.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Other factors, including scars, bruising, ligature marks and signs of malnutrition, supported evidence of long-term abuse, the warrant affidavit said.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Starvation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/starvation. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
