hungryadj.
/ˈhʌŋɡri/, U.S. /ˈhəŋɡri/ 1.
a. Having the sensation of hunger; feeling pain or uneasiness from want of food; having a keen appetite.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > hunger > [adjective] > hungry
hungryc950
hungering971
hollow1362
eagera1475
empty?1490
ahungrya1500
sharp-set1540
greedlya1546
anhungry1578
starveling1578
belly-pinched1608
mad-hungry1608
jejunea1620
sharp-bent1675
sharp1678
nithered1691
peckish1714
stomach-tight1718
yap1768
yaupish1789
picksome1847
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > hunger > [adjective] > hungry > starving or starved
hungryc950
ofhungeredOE
hungeredc1425
famylousc1475
forhungered1481
hunger-starvena1533
starven1546
hunger-bit1549
hunger-bitten1549
affamished1554
starved1563
starving1581
gaunted1582
famishing1587
food-sick1587
hunger-starving1592
famined1622
gut-foundered1647
hunger-starved1647
starved-gut1653
half-starved1667
clemmed1674
nushed1691
pinch-gutted1704
starve-gutted1726
clemming1773
clung1807
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxv. 37 Huoenne ðec we segon hungrig vel hyngrende? [Ags. Gosp. hingrigendne.]
OE Guthlac A 737 Oft he him æte heold, þonne hy him hungrige ymb hond flugon grædum gifre.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6162 Þe birrþ fedenn hunngriȝ mann.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 23084 I was hungre, yee gaf me fode.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke i. 53 He hath fillid hungry men with goode thingis [1526 Tyndale He hath filled the hongry with goode thinges], and he hath left ryche men voyde.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. cxcvii. 175 An hungary wolfe.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. v. sig. Biiv Hungry doggs will eat dirty puddyngs.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ix. sig. Kiv Hungry flyes byte sore.
1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xiii. 139 As houngrie tykis ȝe thristit for his blude.
1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 23 in Justa Edouardo King The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed.
1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Lev. xvii. 13) 147 Though hee bee as hungrie as a hunter.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth V. 89 How hungry soever he may be, he never stoops to carrion.
1855 H. W. Longfellow Hiawatha viii. 109 The hungry sea-gulls..Clamorous for their morning banquet.
b. Said of the belly or stomach.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > hunger > [adjective] > hungry > of the stomach
hungry1484
sharp1486
sharp-set1725
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iii. xvi When the bely was empty and sore hongry.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. DDii Scarcyte in meate, and the bely alway somwhat hungry.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie H 679 Breade and salt asswageth an hungry stomache.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 87 A hungry belly may call for more meat.
c. transferred. Indicating, characteristic of, or characterized by hunger; belonging to a hungry person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > hunger > [adjective]
hungry1600
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. ii. 266 Certaine Arabians lead here a miserable and hungrie life.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. ii. 195 Yond Cassius has a leane and hungry looke.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna x. xv. 219 The..flocks and herds Who had survived the wild beasts' hungry chace.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. i. 2 His shining eyes darted a hungry look.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down (at cited word) A hungry eye sees far.
2.
a. Of times or places: Marked by famine or scarcity of food; famine-stricken. the hungry forties, the decade beginning in 1840, characterized in the British Isles by much poverty and unemployment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > hunger > [adjective] > famine-stricken or without food
meatlessOE
hungrya1325
breadlessc1400
the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > decade characterized by poverty
the hungry forties1905
the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [noun] > specific centuries, decades, or years
fire year1673
quattrocento1854
the hungry forties1905
dix-huitième1920
roaring twenties1923
Dirty Thirties1931
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2136 Quan ðo hungri gere ben forð-cumen.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr.) i. pr. iv. 9 In the sowre hungry tyme.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. x. 206 Helden [ful] hungry hous and hadde much defaute.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 5094 Fiue ȝere of þis hungery [Fairf. hungre, Trin. Cambr. hongry, Vesp. hunger] tyde.
1607 S. Rowlands Diogines Lanthorne 29 When thou art hording vp thy foode, Against these hungry dayes.
1905 Mrs. C. Unwin (title) The hungry forties.
1910 A. Baker Poor against Rich 34 I mention the Hungry Forties, because a lot of poor people have allowed themselves to be misled during the last election, by the fear of dear food.
1920 J. Collings in J. L. Green Life Jesse Collings i. iv. 29 During the ‘hungry forties’ eggs were sold twenty for a shilling.
1958 Spectator 20 June 792/1 During the famine in Ireland at the end of the Hungry Forties, it was not uncommon [etc.].
b. Of food: Eaten with hunger or keen appetite. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food otherwise characterized > [adjective] > eaten hungrily
hungry1552
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > [adjective] > eaten with keen appetite (of food)
hungry1552
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Hungry meale, peredia.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler iv. 104 We shall..make a good honest, wholsome, hungry Breakfast. View more context for this quotation
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems cviii. 4 First should a tongue..Fall extruded, of each vulture a hungry regale.
3.
a. Of food, etc.: That does not satisfy one's hunger; that leaves one hungry. Hence figurative. Unsatisfying, insufficient. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [adjective] > nourishing > not
mistrum?c1225
leanc1325
weak1382
hungry1561
excremental1576
unnourishable1590
low1603
excrementitial1620
heartless1620
excrementitious1623
inalimental1626
sustenanceless1630
lifeless1633
excrementious1636
oligotrophic1659
meagre1663
unnutritive1700
innutritious1796
unnutritious1821
innutrient1822
unalimentary1822
unnourishing1826
innutritive1844
foodless1916
the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [adjective] > satisfying or sufficing > not
hungry1561
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iii. f. 234 Yt wil not be content with a hungry supper.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxvii. 180 Their discourses are hungrie and vnpleasant.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 260 To feed upon their owne hungery store.
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. vi. 128 Shrimps..tho' but a hungry sort of Food, they are mightily esteemed.
1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Aug. 10 In Lucian's time they found it rather hungry fare.
b. Causing or inducing hunger; appetizing. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > savouriness > [adjective]
likingeOE
goodOE
lickerousc1275
deliciousa1325
daintya1382
dainteousc1386
daintiful1393
delicatea1398
merrya1398
savourlyc1400
liciousc1420
savourousa1425
daintethc1430
lustyc1430
feelsomea1450
nuttya1450
seasonablea1475
delicativec1475
unctuous1495
well-tasteda1500
daintive1526
savoury1533
exquisite1561
spicy1562
well-relished?1575
finger-licking1584
toothsome1584
taste-pleasinga1586
daint1590
relishsome1593
lickerish1595
tastesome1598
friand1599
tooth-tempting1603
relishing1605
well-relishing1608
neat1609
hungry1611
palate-pleasing1611
tasteful1611
palatea1617
tastya1617
palatable1619
toothful1622
sipid1623
unsoured1626
famelic1631
tasteablea1641
piquant1645
sapid1646
saporousa1670
slape1671
palativea1682
flavorous1697
nice1709
well-flavoured1717
gusty1721
flavoury1727
fine-palated1735
unrepulsive1787
degustatory1824
zesty1826
peckish1845
mouth-watering1847
flavoursome1853
unreasty1853
unrancida1855
relishy1864
toothy1864
flavoured1867
tasty-looking1867
hungrifying1886
velvety1888
snappy1892
zippy1911
savoursome1922
delish1953
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > [adjective] > appetizing or exciting hunger
hungry1611
famelic1631
1611 T. Coryate (title) Crudities Hastily gobled vp in five Moneths trauells..; Newly digested in the hungry aire of Odcombe in the County of Somerset.
1681 W. Penn Acct. Pennsylvania in R. Burton Eng. Empire Amer. vii. 109 A skie as clear as in Summer, and the Air dry, cold, piercing, and hungry.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond II. vii. 118 There are woodcocks for supper... It was such a hungry sermon.
1899 N.E.D. at Hungry Mod. We found it a very hungry place; the children had their appetites wonderfully sharpened.
4. transferred and figurative. Having or characterized by a strong desire or craving (for, †after, †of anything); eager; greedy; avaricious.
a. of persons, their attributes, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > strong or eager desire > [adjective] > craving
thirstyc888
ofthirstOE
hungryc1200
athirsta1387
hydropicc1400
anhungered?1556
sharp-set1580
hydropical1656
esurienta1672
craving1688
thirstful1865
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 215 Ðe hodede..sholde..fede mid godes worde þe hungrie soule.
a1325 Prose Psalter cvi[i]. 9 He..fulfild hungri soules of godes.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. ii. 188 Aren none hardur ne hongryour þan men of holy churche.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Pref. 14 Hongrie of ferther Knoweladge.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons 6 Hungrie after charge, spoyle and gaine.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. vii. 357 A hungry and tyrannical Magistrate.
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab vi. 79 That..the exulting cries..Might sate thine hungry ear.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars vi. 266 Classes of eager youths hungry for intellectual food.
b. of things.
ΚΠ
1650 J. Howell Cotgrave's French-Eng. Dict. (rev. ed.) Of French Lett. sig. b2 The French is a hungry language, for it devours more consonants than any other.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xii. 18 The hungry flame devours the silent dead.
1826 T. Hood Mermaid of Margate in Whims & Oddities 65 He was saved from the hungry deep by a boat Of Deal.
1886 H. D. Traill Shaftesbury (1888) iv. 52 The conveyance of prize-money..into Charles's always hungry pocket.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 20 Apr. 5/1 Now and again a column of flame shot out..and stretched a hungry arm at the building.
5.
a. Lacking elements which are needful or desirable, and therefore capable of absorbing these to a great extent; ‘more disposed to draw from other substances than to impart to them’ (Johnson); esp. of land, etc.: Not rich or fertile, poor; of rivers: Not supplying food for fish. †Applied formerly also to ‘hard’ waters and acrid liquids, wines, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > productiveness > unproductiveness > [adjective]
unbearingc825
deafc897
westyOE
wastumlessc975
wilderna1050
drya1340
gelda1350
barren1377
unfructuousa1382
poora1387
ungreenc1400
infecundc1420
farrow1494
fruitlessa1513
unfruitful1531
sterile1552
hungry1577
penurious1594
unfertile1596
infertile1598
howling1611
ungenitureda1616
arid1656
infecundous1661
ungendering1706
yeld1721
unproductive1725
infructuose1727
ungenerative1733
fallow1791
nihili-parturient1812
dowf1824
wastec1825
non-productive1830
unreproductive1836
infructuous1860
unvintaged1869
increative1877
ablastemic1881
submarginal1895
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > types or qualities of intoxicating liquor > [adjective] > rough or acid
rough?1440
hard1572
hungry1577
acid1998
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [adjective] > infertile > lacking fertilizing elements
hungry1577
starveda1591
meagre1794
wormless1837
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 24 The land..which is nought and yeeldes not his fruite, is called leane, barren, hungry.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §395 The more Fat Water will beare Soape best; For the Hungry Water doth kill the vnctuous Nature of the Soape.
1649 W. Blith Eng. Improover (1653) 157 Thy Sets may neither root, in stiffe-binding Clay, nor hungry Sand.
1669 W. Charleton Mysterie of Vintners in Two Disc. 188 To meliorate the taste of Hungry and too Eagre White-Wines.
1787 T. Best Conc. Treat. Angling (ed. 2) 6 Carps in all hungry springing waters being fed at certain times will come up, and take their meat almost from your hand.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 9 Flat tracts of hungry pasture ground.
1890 Whitby Gaz. 24 Jan. 3/3 Food was not plentiful in the river anywhere, and Goathland beck was certainly the hungriest part of the stream.
b. figurative. Jejune; barren, sterile.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > lack of imagination > [adjective] > of imagination: sterile
hungry1571
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xxv. 8) A cold and hungery imaginacion.
c. Mineralogy. ‘A term applied to hard barren vein-matter, such as white quartz (not discolored with iron oxide)’ (Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881).
ΚΠ
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 146 Hungry, a term applied to hard, barren vein-matter, such as white quartz (not discolored with iron oxide).
Compounds
C1. †hungry-looked, hungry-looking adjs.
ΚΠ
1713 Guardian 13 May 2/2 A lean hungry-look'd Rascal.
C2. In special collocations.† hungry evil n. (also hungry evil sickness) Obsolete a disease in horses characterized by insatiable hunger.† hungry gut n. Obsolete (a) the intestinum jejunum, the part of the small intestine between the duodenum and the ileum, so called because it is supposed to be usually found empty after death; also figurative; (b) in quot. 1552, a person with hungry guts, a glutton.† hungry worm n. Obsolete (see quot. 1740).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > other disorders of horses
trench?a1450
colt-evilc1460
affreyd?1523
cholera1566
crick1566
incording1566
leprosy1566
taint1566
eyesore1576
fistula1576
wrench1578
birth1600
garrot1600
stithy1600
stifling1601
stranglings1601
hungry evil1607
pose1607
crest-fall1609
pompardy1627
felteric1639
quick-scab1639
shingles1639
clap1684
sudden taking1688
bunches1706
flanks1706
strangles1706
chest-founderingc1720
body-founder1737
influenza1792
foundering1802
horse-sickness1822
stag-evil1823
strangullion1830
shivering1847
dourine1864
swamp fever1870
African horse sickness1874
horse-pox1884
African horse disease1888
wind-stroke1890
thump1891
leucoencephalitis1909
western equine encephalitis1933
stachybotryotoxicosis1945
rhinopneumonitis1957
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Hungry sicnes, bulima, bulimia.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 380 The hungry euill..is a verie great desire to eat, following some great emptinesse, or lacke of meate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > intestines > [noun] > small intestines > jejunum
fasting guta1413
jejunum?1541
hungry gut1552
jejune gut1696
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > [noun] > gluttony > glutton
glutton?c1225
glutc1394
globberc1400
glofferc1440
gluttoner1482
gourmanda1492
ravener1496
belly1526
golofer1529
lurcher1530
cormorant1531
flesh-fly1532
full-belly1536
belly-godc1540
flap-sauce1540
gourmander1542
gully-gut1542
locust1545
glosser1549
greedy-guts1550
hungry gut1552
belly-slave1562
fill-belly1563
grand paunch1569
belly-paunch1570
belly-swainc1571
trencher-slave1571
slapsauce1573
gorche1577
helluo1583
gormandizer1589
eat-all1598
engorger1598
guts1598
guller1604
gourmandist1607
barathrum1609
eatnell1611
snapsauce1611
Phaeacian?1614
gutling1617
overeater1621
polyphage1623
tenterbelly1628
gut-head1629
stiffgut1630
gobble-guts1632
gulist1632
polyphagian1658
fill-paunch1659
gype1662
gulchin1671
stretch-gut1673
gastrolater1694
gundy-gut1699
guttler1732
gobbler1755
trencher-hero1792
gorger1817
polyphagist1819
battenera1849
stuff-guts1875
chowhound1917
gannet1929
Billy Bunter1939
guzzle-guts1959
garbage can1963
foodaholic1965
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Hungry gutte, esurio.
1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 162 To satisfie the hungrie gut of their rauenous appetite.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Digiuno,..a gut in mans bodie called the hungrie gut, because it is alwayes emptie.
hungry rice n.
Brit. /ˈhʌŋɡrɪ rʌɪs/
, /ˈhʌŋɡrɪ rʌɪs/U.S. /ˈhəŋɡri ˌraɪs/
, /ˈhəŋɡri ˌraɪs/West African English /ˌ(h)ɔŋɡri ˈrais/
a grain allied to millet, Paspalum exile, much cultivated in West Africa./ˌ(h)ɔŋɡri ˈrais/ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > rice > types of rice or rice-plants
fundi1670
ricea1710
wild rice1748
zizania1756
zizany1759
water oats1771
Canada rice1786
Carolina rice1787
menomin1791
Patna rice1795
Indian rice1809
pulut1820
dhan1832
hungry rice1858
swamp rice1861
Menominee1949
miracle rice1968
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 818 Paspalum exile is a native of Sierra Leone..cultivated..for its small seeds, and called Fundi or Fundungi, which signifies Hungry Rice.
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 526 Fundi, fundungi, hungry rice, Sierra Leone millet.
ΚΠ
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. v. 101 The common People imagine them troubled with what they call the Hungry-Worm under the Tongue... There is no such Thing as the Worm under a Dog's Tongue.
Draft additions March 2020
In similes expressing a comparison with an animal or (less commonly) a person regarded as having a very large or keen appetite, as as hungry as a bear, as hungry as a horse, as hungry as a wolf, etc.: very hungry; famished; ravenous.
ΚΠ
1578 J. Stockwood Serm. Barthelmew Day 38 The Romane souldiors..were wholly bente vppon the spoile, as hungrie as Wolues.
1607 T. Dekker & G. Wilkins Iests to make you Merie sig. Cv [She] came home late, cald for victuals, and swore she was as hungry as a dogge.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xxxiv. 302 A profuse sweat..relieved me from all my complaints, except that of weakness; and left me as hungry as a kite.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. ii. 15 ‘I'm as hungry as a hunter.’.. ‘I'm glad you're hungry, my dear, I've such a nice dinner for you,’ replied the wife.
1881 Sci. Amer. 2 July 10/3 Oh, I am as hungry as a horse!
1972 G. M. Brown Greenvoe (1976) v. 168 More than once he has the smell of beer on his breath when he comes in,..hungry as a hawk, for his supper.
2019 @chaniecooks 28 July in twitter.com (accessed 27 Aug. 2019) How is oatmeal so filling yet leaves you hungry as a bear not 25 minutes later?!
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c950