hun ‧ gry S2 /ˈhʌŋɡri/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative hungrier , superlative hungriest )
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ hunger ; adverb : ↑ hungrily ; adjective : ↑ hungry ]
1 . wanting to eat something ⇨ thirsty :
I was cold, tired, and hungry.
If you get hungry, there’s some cold chicken in the fridge.
Do you still feel hungry?
2 . ill or weak as a result of not having enough to eat for a long time:
We can’t justify wasting food when half the world is hungry.
3 . go hungry to not have enough to eat:
Thousands of families go hungry every day.
4 . wanting or needing something very much SYN eager
hungry for
She is hungry for success.
hungry to do something
Stan was hungry to learn.
5 . the hungry [plural] people who do not have enough food to eat
6 . power-hungry/news-hungry etc wanting power, news etc very much:
a power-hungry politician
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THESAURUS
■ wanting to eat
▪ hungry wanting to eat something:
We were really hungry after our long walk.
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It’s hard work cooking for a bunch of hungry kids.
▪ peckish [not before noun] British English informal a little hungry:
I’m feeling a bit peckish. What’s in the fridge?
▪ starving/ravenous /ˈræv ə nəs/ ( also starved American English ) [not before noun] spoken very hungry and wanting to eat as soon as possible:
I missed lunch and I’m absolutely starving.
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Sam’s always ravenous when he gets home from school.
▪ famished very hungry. Famished is less common and sounds a little more formal than starving or ravenous :
Everyone was famished by the time they arrived.
▪ I could eat a horse! spoken used to say that you are very hungry:
‘Are you hungry?’ ‘Yeah, I could eat a horse.’
▪ appetite the desire for food that you have when you are hungry:
Exercise usually gives me an appetite.
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It’s healthy to have a good appetite.
■ ill because of lack of food
▪ hungry ill or weak because of not having enough to eat:
terrible pictures of hungry children in Africa
▪ starving not having had enough food for a long time and likely to die soon without food:
Because of the drought, millions of people were starving.
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the starving refugees from the war
▪ malnourished formal unhealthy and thin because you have not had the right kinds of food over a long period of time:
According to the report, one-fifth of the world’s population are malnourished.
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malnourished infants