hungry

English Online Dictionary. What means hungry‎? What does hungry mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English hungry, from Old English hungriġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hungrug, from Proto-Germanic *hungrugaz (“hungry”); equivalent to hunger +‎ -y. Cognate with West Frisian hongerich (“hungry”), Dutch hongerig (“hungry”), German hungrig (“hungry”), Swedish hungrig (“hungry”), Icelandic hungraður (“hungry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/
• Rhymes: -ʌŋɡɹi
• Homophone: Hungary (in some accents)
• Hyphenation: hun‧gry

Adjective

hungry (comparative hungrier, superlative hungriest)

1. Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.

   Synonyms: famished, peckish, starving

2. Causing hunger.

3. (figuratively) Eager; having an avid desire or appetite for something.
4. Not rich or fertile; poor; barren; starved.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• thirsty
• I am hungry

Middle English

Alternative forms

• hongry, hungery, hungri, hungrie, hungrye, hungury
• houngrie, hungrig (Early Middle English); hunnꟑriȝ (Ormulum)
• hungre, hungorie (Late Middle English)

Etymology

From Old English hungriġ, from Proto-Germanic *hungragaz; equivalent to hunger +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhunɡriː/, [ˈhuŋɡriː]

Adjective

hungry

1. Hungry or starving; needing food:
   1. Malnourished: shriveled from or like from hunger.
   2. Voracious, ravenous; wanting to eat.
2. (rare, religion) Spiritually desirous.
3. (rare, of soil) Unproductive, barren.

Derived terms

• hungryly

Descendants

• English: hungry
• Scots: hungry
• Yola: hungree

References

• “hungrī(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Noun

hungry

1. Those who are hungry or impoverished.

References

• “hungrī(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 19 September 2018.