famine
A time when there is not enough food for many people to eat.
famine in a sentence
- In the old story, a famine forced the villagers to share every scrap of food.
- After the crops failed, the country faced a terrible famine.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to famine?
- Afeast
- Babundance
- Cstarvation
- Dplenty
Show the answer
C: starvation. The other three mean the opposite of famine.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to famine?
- Aplenty
- Bshortage
- Chunger
- Dstarvation
Show the answer
A: plenty. The other three mean nearly the same as famine.
Words that mean something similar
starvation, hunger, shortage
Words that mean the opposite
plenty, abundance, feast
More words about weather & nature
- fertile: Able to grow plenty of healthy plants or crops.
- flourish: To grow strongly and do very well.
- fragrant: Having a sweet, pleasant smell.
- frigid: Extremely cold.
- gale: A very strong wind.
- glorious: Wonderfully beautiful or impressive.
- humid: Warm and damp, with lots of moisture in the air.
- infest: To swarm over a place in large, unwanted numbers.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test