as in shortages
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
there's a famine of good general practitioners in many rural areas
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Recent Examples of famines
Modern-day famines are different than the famines that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when drought was the main driver in Ethiopia and other nations.
—
Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Somalia, in 2011, and South Sudan, in 2017, also saw famines in which tens of thousands of people were affected.
—Laura Ungar, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2025
The government there kicked out a parallel United Nations system for detecting famines, called IPC, or the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
—Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 13 Aug. 2025
During the worst famines of past years, prices rose tenfold.
—Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
Solve world hunger and starvation and famines and genocides.
—Malik Peay, Essence, 5 Aug. 2025
Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Somalia, in 2011, and South Sudan, in 2017, also saw famines in which tens of thousands of people were affected.
—Laura Ungar, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2025
The government there kicked out a parallel United Nations system for detecting famines, called IPC, or the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
—Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 13 Aug. 2025
During the worst famines of past years, prices rose tenfold.
—Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
Solve world hunger and starvation and famines and genocides.
—Malik Peay, Essence, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for famines
Noun
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By last winter, after significant reconstruction, rolling blackouts were rare, and power shortages were mostly localized.—
Ken Silverstein,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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With rising costs, labor shortages and a push for more sustainable building methods, this kind of breakthrough could shape the future of American neighborhoods.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This absence — of God, of love, of plain community spirit — is a metaphor for the whole parish, where everyone is defined by their own lacks and deficiencies, the weaknesses that cause Wicks to despise them and vow to bring down them all.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
6 Sep. 2025
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But Davies’s film has a patience and lightness of touch that Scorsese’s lacks, as well as a note-perfect lead in Gillian Anderson.—
Elle Carroll,
Vulture,
11 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Famines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/famines. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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