hunger

The word “hunger” means the physical need or desire to eat. In plain terms, the need for food, or by extension, a strong craving for anything — success, knowledge, attention.

“Hunger” is pronounced HUHNG-guh (/ˈhʌŋɡɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “hunger” used in a sentence: “The smell of fresh bread only sharpened her hunger.”

The opposite of “hunger” — its antonyms — are satiety and satiation.

Depending on how it is used, “hunger” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “hunger” comes from Old English. From Old English hungor, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "hunger," ultimately traced to an Indo-European root for burning or yearning.

“Hunger” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Hunger” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the physical need or desire to eat.

Hunger is the physical need or drive to eat that the body signals when it needs food. Appetite is the desire or interest in eating, which can be present even when you are not physically hungry, or absent when you are.

Hunger describes the ordinary physical need or desire to eat, and it is usually relieved by a meal. Starvation is the severe, prolonged and dangerous condition that results from a long-term lack of food, so it is far more extreme than hunger.

Yes. Beyond the physical need to eat, hunger can mean a strong desire or craving for something other than food, as in a hunger for success or a hunger for knowledge. In these uses it signals intense ambition or longing.

Hunger frequently pairs with verbs like satisfy, feel, and stave off, as in satisfy your hunger. In its figurative sense it is often followed by for, as in a hunger for power or a hunger for adventure.