How to Use famine in a Sentence

famine

noun
Definition of faminenext
Synonyms for faminenext
  • The famine affected half the continent.
  • Droughts in the mid-1960s raised the specter of famine.
    — Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, 23 Dec. 2021
  • How much will that help to forestall the threat of famine?
    — Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2021
  • In the decades following the famine, the Irish spread to every corner of the globe.
    — Diego Lasarte, Quartz, 16 Mar. 2023
  • The one that killed more than a million of its own people in a famine.
    — Danielle Pletka, National Review, 12 Feb. 2022
  • Much of Gaza is at risk of famine in the next several months.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2024
  • It’s been feast or famine for the Lions defense of late.
    — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Nov. 2023
  • This dates all the way back to at least the Irish potato famine in the 19th century.
    — Elizabeth Denton, Allure, 15 Oct. 2021
  • Needless to say, there is no famine of glamour to speak of.
    — Roxanne Adamiyatt, Town & Country, 9 Sep. 2022
  • There was a famine that prompted the Lakota chief to send scouts to hunt for food.
    — Saleen Martin, USA TODAY, 1 July 2024
  • This aid is far from sufficient — the risk of famine looms.
    — Alexander Smith, NBC News, 30 Oct. 2024
  • The amount that is raised can determine feast or famine.
    — Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2023
  • The goal was to raise money for the famine that was unfolding at that time in Ethiopia.
    — Michela Moscufo, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2022
  • Teach them to hunt, fish, gather and process food, then to prepare for times of famine and war.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 17 Mar. 2022
  • The area has been cut off from food and other aid for months, raising fears of famine.
    — Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 28 Dec. 2024
  • The entire crop was destroyed, and the Irish potato famine was the result.
    — Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Aug. 2021
  • Since the pandemic, it’s been feast or famine at the box office.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 22 Aug. 2022
  • Speaking of which, there is a literal famine in Gaza caused by the war.
    — Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024
  • The first, of course, was the song’s reason for being: to save the lives of Ethiopians victimized by famine.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 29 Jan. 2024
  • Is the threat of famine, protests and distress from higher food prices behind us?
    — Julia Horowitz, CNN, 26 July 2022
  • Afghanistan faces its worst drought in four decades and impending famine.
    — WSJ, 30 Dec. 2021
  • The government at that time did not want the famine to be public knowledge.
    — New York Times, 4 Aug. 2021
  • More than twenty million people are on the brink of famine.
    — Jane Ferguson, The New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2022
  • Millions of Afghans face the threat of famine in the first winter following the Taliban takeover.
    — Arkansas Online, 16 Jan. 2022
  • But climate change is another key factor that has the Horn of Africa on the verge of famine.
    — Ryan Bergeron, CNN, 3 Aug. 2022
  • Its rays struggled to reach the planet’s surface, leading crops to fail and famines to spread.
    — Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
  • It’s been said that Madagascar may be on the brink of the world’s first climate change induced famine.
    — Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2021
  • The forced implementation of this idea led to years of famine.
    — Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 7 June 2022
  • Many hope the next phase will end the war that has displaced the vast majority of Gaza's population and left hundreds of thousands at risk of famine.
    — Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 26 Jan. 2025
  • President Biden announced the ceasefire last week, essentially capping the 15-month-long war in Gaza that has left the region in rubble and many Palestinians struggling with famine.
    — Lauren Irwin, The Hill, 19 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'famine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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